By Ethan Zulu
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has announced that Parliament will dissolve on May 14th ahead of the 12th August, 2021 general elections.
And ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Patrick Nshindano has insisted that those that wish to contest in the forthcoming elections should meet the minimum Grade 12 certificate constitutional requirement or its equivalent.
Addressing the media, Wednesday, Nshindano said that those without the constitutional requirement of Grade 12 certificate or its equivalent will not be considered for the August elections.
And Nshindano said the Commission has set 14th August, 2021 as date for the dissolution of parliament.
He said according to the law, nominations for various offices should be done after the dissolution of parliament.
“We would like to inform you and the nation that the calender has since been revised to accommodate the provisions of the dissolution of parliament which has been set for 14th May, 2021. Procedurally, nominations should be held after the dissolution of parliament, therefore, the nomination period has been revised in line with these requirements. The rest of the activity dates remain unchanged,” said Nshindano.
Nshindano announced additional activities too to help aspiring candidates to mobilise and prepare ahead of the election.
He said the Presidential nomination will take place from the 17 to 20th of May, while, for parliamentarians the date has been set for 17th May, adding that Council Chairpersons and Mayoral nomination will be held on the 18th.
Nshindano explained that local government elections nominations will be held on the 19th, while, the commencement of campaigns will be the 12th May to 11 August, 2021.
The ECZ CEO says the nomination petition will have to be submitted and concluded between 15th May and 11th June, 2021 before the election on August 12.
Meanwhile, Nshindano has explained that the commission has since increased the number of wards from 1, 624 to 1, 853, with the polling districts increasing from 7,700 to 8,999.
“The review of the constituency boundaries was also concluded and the delimitation report has been concluded. However, the number of constituencies has since remained unchanged at 156. This means that the 2021 general election, the ECZ will have to work within the number of constituencies provided for in the Constitution,” said Nshindano.