Former State House aide Dickson Jere has called for the abolition of by-elections saying they are wasteful and divisive.
“We have exactly 10 days to go before the crucial parliamentary by-election in Kabwata. I have always been against by-election. They divert so much resources – human and financial – which can be used elsewhere,” he says.
Jere says by-elections should be abolished especially when sitting MP or Councillor dies, resigns, jailed or becomes incapacitated.
“We should developed a Proportional Representation system for purposes of filling the casual vacancies,” adds Jere.
He went to say as seen in 2003, he was among those who were appointed by President Levy Mwanawasa to sit on the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to draft the country’s Constitution.
“Many petitioners who appeared before us demanded that a system should be developed to take care of vacancies in constituencies as opposed to by-elections,” adds Jere.
He adds that the petitioners believed by-elections were not only costly but divisive.
“One way of doing it is that each party must have candidates for the general elections (First Past the Post System) but also a party list (Proportional Representation) for purposes of filling the vacancies.
“Simply, the party that held the seat must be allowed to replace their MP via party list – like is case in South Africa.
“Just submit name of your proposed replacement to Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) who will scrutinise the qualifications and announce the name if meets the criteria.
“We can then leave by-election for independent candidates or when courts have nullified seats for corruption.
“Further, I think it is now ripe for the UPND government to begin reforms of both our Constitution and electoral process. Let us not leave this assignment too late and near the 2026 elections.
“It will be acrimonious and look political. We need to amend all those articles calling for fresh nominations when some irresponsible candidates chicken out of the race. Time is now for Constitutional amendments,” adds Jere.
Amending articles calling for fresh elections when one of the candidates chickens out of the race is a good idea. It comes as a shock that someone or a group of people could come up with such articles. Was this person representing himself or the people of Zambia? It is indeed true that bye-elections are costly. But why didn’t the previous regimes address this issue when they were in power? One wonders why the issue has come up now? Much as what is being said makes sense, reading between the lines, it is respectable to make the right suggestions when you are still in power and not otherwise. The motive behind what is being said matters much more than the sensible suggestion. We need not mess around the Zambian people as if they are pones on a chessboard.
For now, whether bye-elections are divisive or costly, the bedrock truth that must be borne in mind is that elections are the litmus test for a true democratic political system, since in democracies, the government derives its legitimacy from the people, and going by this democracy means nothing if the people’s will are manoeuvred. It is an undeniable fact that elections determine on who gets what, when and how. But it is wrong to adopt adopt manipulative techniques and strategies that favor ones egoistic motives.