| Parliament name |
National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
28 September 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the National Assembly following premature dissolution of this body on 26 July 2006. Elections to the National Assembly had previously taken place on 27 December 2001. |
On 26 July 2006
President Levy Mwanawasa dissolved Parliament and called early elections to coincide with presidential elections on 28 September 2006.
In the last elections held in December 2001
the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) had won 69 seats
followed by the United Party for National Development (UPND) with 49 seats. The United National Independence Party (UNIP) and the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) had won 13 and 12 seats respectively.
A total of 709 candidates
including 106 women
contested the 2006 elections. The main contenders were the ruling MMD
led by President Mwanawasa; and the Patriotic Front (PF)
formed in 2001 by a former MMD member
Mr. Michael Sata. The UPND
the UNIP
and the FDD formed a coalition called the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) that was initially led by Mr. Anderson Mazoka
who had narrowly been defeated in the 2001 presidential elections. Following Mr. Mazoka's death in May 2006
Mr. Hakainde Hichilema
a prominent businessman
became the UDA leader and its presidential candidate.
During the campaign
the MMD pledged to empower all Zambians to fully enjoy the country's wealth. The party promised to maintain its liberal foreign exchange rate policy and to encourage more investment. In its manifesto
the PF called for lower taxes and more job creation
and pledged to promote economic development by increasing local and foreign investment. The UDA coalition promised to provide dynamic
corruption-free leadership
empower farmers
and develop the country's tourism industry.
Transparent ballot boxes and a voter's card with photo and bio-data were used for the first time
in efforts to reduce electoral fraud.
Approximately 71 per cent of the 3.9 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
International observers considered that the elections were largely well-organized and transparent. The Commonwealth Observer Group praised significant improvements in the transparency of the voting process
although it noted some shortcomings regarding the new voter's cards
which may have prevented some young people from casting their ballots.
The results gave the ruling MMD 72 seats
the PF 43 and the UDA 26. The remainder went to small parties and independent candidates. Due to the death of two candidates
elections in two constituencies were postponed to 26 October. The MMD won both seats in the deferred elections
bringing its total number of seats to 74.
After partial results of the presidential elections were announced on 1 October
giving incumbent President Mwanawasa the lead
PF supporters protested in the streets of the capital
Lusaka
and over 100 people were arrested. Mr. Sata claimed massive electoral fraud and urged the Electoral Commission to investigate irregularities and reports of missing ballots.
The final results gave President Mwanawasa 43 percent of the votes
while Mr. Sata and Mr. Hichilema won 29 and 25 per cent respectively. On 3 October 2006
President Mwanawasa was sworn in for a second five-year term.
The newly-elected National Assembly held its first session on 31 October 2006 and re-elected Mr. Amusaa K. Mwanamwambwa of the MMD as its Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 28 September 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
3'941'229
2'781'360 (70.57%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Patriotic Front |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| United Democratic Alliance (UDA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| United Liberal Party (ULP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| National Democratic Focus (NDF) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Elections 28 Sep. |
Elections 26 Oct. |
|
|
| Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) |
74
|
72 |
2 |
|
|
| Patriotic Front |
43
|
43 |
0 |
|
|
| United Democratic Alliance (UDA) |
26
|
26 |
0 |
|
|
| United Liberal Party (ULP) |
3
|
3 |
0 |
|
|
| Independents |
3
|
3 |
0 |
|
|
| National Democratic Focus (NDF) |
1
|
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
135
23
14.56%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Note:
The statistics above refer to directly elected members. They include an elected MMD representative who passed away on 9 October
and the two MMD candidates elected in the deferred elections held in Lupososhi and Kabompo East constituencies on 26 October 2006.
Note on "distribution of seats according to sex"
Twenty-one women were directly elected
while two women were appointed. (National Assembly
04.10.2006
13.10.2006
27.02.2008
01.01.2010). |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
