NO BY ELECTIONS IN KAPUTA – ECZ.
… _says Article 57(2) provides that a by election shall not be held within 180 days of the general elections_
Lusaka…. Thursday March 4, 2021 (Smart Eagles)
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) says there will be no by_election in Kaputa Constituency following the death of Member of Parliament Hon Maxas Ng’onga.
The electoral body says this is because Article 57(2) provides that a by election shall not be held within
180 days of the general election.
The commission Corporate Affairs Manager Patricia Luhanga says the 2021 general election is scheduled to be held on August 12, 2021, so the last date for holding by elections was Saturday February 2021 which is an excluded day because it was not a working day, therefore, the last date was February 15, 2021.
She said any vacancy arising after that date cannot be subject of a by election.
Ms Luhanga says the
Kaputa Constituency by-election is outside the prescribed period for holding of a by-election.
“So this time around there will be no by elections which will be held. It is only the general elections which the commission will hold as prescribed by the law,” says Ms Luhanga.
She also says the holding of by-elections is governed by Article 57(1) of the Constitution and the law requires that by elections for Parliamentary and local
government seats are held within 90 days of the vacancy and the provision is drawn in mandatory terms.
Ms Luhanga says it must be noted that in terms of Article 57(3), the power to set the date for a by election is reposed in the commission subject to Article 57(1). The Commission is at liberty to set any period within 90
days.
She however says Article 57(2) provides that a by election shall not be held within 180 days of the general election.