- Politics of Zambia
Politics of Zambia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic
republic , whereby thePresident of Zambia is bothhead of state andhead of government , and of amulti-party system .Executive power is exercised by the government.Legislative power is vested in both thegovernment and parliament.Zambia (formerlyNorthern Rhodesia ) became arepublic immediately upon attainingindependence in October1964 .Government and constitution
The
constitution promulgated onAugust 25 ,1973 , abrogated the original 1964 constitution. The new constitution and the national elections that followed in December 1973 were the final steps in achieving what was called a "one-party participatory democracy ."The 1973 constitution provided for a strong president and a unicameral National Assembly. National policy was formulated by the Central Committee of the
United National Independence Party (UNIP), the sole legal party inZambia . The cabinet executed the central committee's policy.In accordance with the intention to formalize UNIP supremacy in the new system, the constitution stipulated that the sole candidate in
elections for the office ofpresident was the person selected to be the president of UNIP by the party's general conference. The second-ranking person in the Zambian hierarchy was UNIP's secretary general.In December
1990 , at the end of a tumultuous year that includedriots in the capital and acoup attempt, President Kaunda signed legislation ending UNIP's monopoly on power. In response to growing popular demand for multi-partydemocracy , and after lengthy, difficult negotiations between the Kaunda government and opposition groups, Zambia enacted a new constitution in August1991 . The constitution enlarged the National Assembly from 136 members to a maximum of 158 members, established an electoral commission, and allowed for more than one presidential candidate who no longer had to be a member of UNIP. The constitution was amended again in1996 to set new limits on the presidency (including a retroactive two-term limit, and a requirement that both parents of a candidate be Zambian-born). The National Assembly comprises 150 directly elected members, up to eight presidentially appointed members, and a speaker. Zambia is divided into nineprovince s, each administered by an appointed deputy minister who essentially performs the duties of agovernor .Political history
The major figure in Zambian politics from 1964 to 1991 was
Kenneth Kaunda , who led the fight for independence and successfully bridged the rivalries among the country's various regions and ethnic groups. Kaunda tried to base government on his philosophy of "humanism ," which condemned humanexploitation and stressedcooperation among people, but not at the expense of the individual.Kaunda's political party--the United National Independence Party (UNIP)--was founded in
1959 and was in power under Kaunda's leadership from 1964 to 1991. Before1972 , Zambia had three significant political parties--UNIP, theNorthern Rhodesian African National Congress , and the United Progressive Party (UPP). The ANC drew its strength from western and southern provinces, while the UPP found some support amongBemba -speakers in the copperbelt and northern provinces. Although not strongly supported in all areas of the country, only UNIP had a nationwide following.One-party state
In February 1972, Zambia became a one-party state, and all other political parties were banned. Kaunda, the sole candidate, was elected president in the 1973 elections. Elections also were held for the National Assembly. Only UNIP members were permitted to run, but these seats were sharply contested. President Kaunda's mandate was renewed in December 1978 and October 1983 in a "yes" or "no" vote on his candidacy. In the 1983 election, more than 60% of those registered participated and gave President Kaunda a 93% "yes" vote.
Movement for Multiparty Democracy
Growing opposition to UNIP's monopoly on power led to the rise in 1990 of the
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). The MMD assembled an increasingly impressive group of important Zambians, including prominent UNIP defectors and labor leaders. During the year, President Kaunda agreed to a referendum on the one-party state but, in the face of continued opposition, dropped the referendum and signed aconstitutional amendment making Zambia a multi-party state. Zambia's first multi-party elections for parliament and the presidency since the 1960s were held onOctober 31 1991 . MMD candidateFrederick Chiluba resoundingly carried the presidential election over Kenneth Kaunda with 81% of the vote. To add to the MMD landslide, in theparliamentary election s the MMD won 125 of the 150 elected seats and UNIP the remaining 25. However, UNIP swept the Eastern Province, gathering 19 of its seats there.MMD in government
By the end of Chiluba's first term as president (
1996 ), the MMD's commitment to political reform had faded in the face of re-election demands. A number of prominent supporters founded opposing parties. Relying on the MMD's overwhelming majority in parliament, President Chiluba in May 1996 pushed through constitutional amendments that eliminated former President Kaunda and other prominent opposition leaders from the 1996 presidential elections. In the presidential and parliamentary elections held in November 1996, Chiluba was re-elected, and the MMD won 131 of the 150 seats in the National Assembly. Kaunda's UNIP partyboycott ed the parliamentary polls to protest the exclusion of its leader from the presidential race, alleging in addition that the outcome of the election had been predetermined due to a faulty voter registration exercise. Despite the UNIP boycott, the elections took place peacefully, and five presidential and more than 600 parliamentary candidates from 11 parties participated. Afterwards, however, several opposition parties andnon-governmental organization s declared the elections neither free nor fair. As President Chiluba began his second term in 1997, the opposition continued to reject the results of the election amid international efforts to encourage the MMD and the opposition to resolve their differences through dialogue.Early in
2001 , supporters of President Chiluba mounted a campaign to amend the constitution to enable Chiluba to seek a third term of office. Civil society, opposition parties, and many members of the ruling party exerted sufficient pressure on Chiluba to force him to back away from any attempt at a third term.Presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections were held on
December 27 , 2001. Eleven parties contested the elections. The elections encountered numerous administrative problems. Opposition parties alleged that serious irregularities occurred. Nevertheless, MMD presidential candidateLevy Mwanawasa was declared the victor by a narrow margin, and he was sworn into office onJanuary 2 2002 . Three parties submitted petitions to the High Court, challenging the election results. The petition remained under consideration by the courts in February2003 . Opposition parties won a majority of parliamentary seats in the December, 2001 election, but subsequent by-elections gave the ruling MMD a slim majority in Parliament.Zambia under Mwanawasa
Thus far the rule of Levy Mwanawasa has not been characterised by the flamboyant expenditure and increasingly apparent corruption of the later years of Frederick Chiluba's time in office. Indeed, the former president has been arrested and charged with several counts of
embezzlement and corruption, firmly quashing initial fears that President Mwanawasa wouldturn a blind eye to the allegations of his predecessor's improprieties. However, Mwanawasa demonstrated an authoritarian streak in early2004 when he issued a deportation order to a British citizen and long-time Zambian resident Roy Clarke, who had published a satirical attack on the president in theZambian Daily Mail . His early zeal to root out corruption has also waned somewhat, with key witnesses in the Chiluba trial leaving the country. The Constitutional Review Commission set up by Mwanawasa has also hit some turbulence, with arguments as to where its findings should be submitted leading to suspicions that he has been trying to manipulate the outcome.Generally, though, Zambian people view Mwanawasa's rule as a great improvement on Chiluba's.
Executive branch
President of Zambia Rupiah Banda
MMD19 August 2008 Legislative branch
The
unicameral National Assembly of Zambia is the country's legislative body. The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on27 December 2001 , has a total of 158 members. 150 members are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority (orFirst-past-the-post ) system. The remaining 8 seats are filled through presidential appointment. All members serve five-year terms.Political parties and elections
Judicial branch
The
Supreme Court is the highest court and the court of appeal; below it are the highcourt , magistrate's court, and local courts.Military
The Zambian Defense Force (ZDF) consists of the army, the air force, and Zambian National Service (ZNS). The ZNS, while operating under the Ministry of Defence, is responsible primarily for public works projects. The ZDF is designed primarily for external defense. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has hit the ZDF not as hard.
Foreign relations
Zambia is a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Commonwealth, theAfrican Union (and its predecessor theOrganisation of African Unity or OAU), theSouthern African Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for Africa (COMA), which is headquartered in Lusaka.President Kaunda was a persistent and visible advocate of change in Southern Africa, supporting liberation movements in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and South Africa. Many of these organisations were based in Zambia during the 1970s and 1980s.
President Chiluba assumed a somewhat higher profile internationally in the mid- and late 1990s. His government played a constructive regional role sponsoring Angola peace talks that led to the 1994 Lusaka Protocols. Zambia has provided troops to UN peacekeeping initiatives in
Mozambique ,Rwanda ,Angola , andSierra Leone . Zambia was the first African state to cooperate with theInternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda into the Rwandan genocide in 1994.In 1998, Zambia took the lead in efforts to establish a cease-fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zambia was active in the Congolese peace effort after the signing of a cease-fire agreement in Lusaka in July and August 1999, although activity diminished considerably after the Joint Military Commission tasked with implementing the ceasefire relocated to
Kinshasa in September 2001.Zambia is also a member of the
International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).Zambia is member of ACP, AfDB, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), ECA, FAO,
G-19 , G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,Interpol ,IOC , IOM, ITU,MONUC ,NAM , OAU, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD,UNESCO , UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UPU,WCL , WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
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