Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:End of an era: an analysis of the 1991 Zambian presidential and parliamentary elections
Author:Chikulo, B.C.ISNI
Year:1993
Periodical:Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies
Volume:20
Issue:1
Pages:87-104
Language:English
Geographic term:Zambia
Subjects:elections
1991
multiparty systems
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589349308704989
Abstract:Zambia's first general election under the new multiparty constitution was held on 31 October 1991. These presidential and parliamentary elections were the culmination of a campaign for multiparty democracy, conducted over a period of almost two years, which had forced Dr. Kaunda to scrap one-party rule. The veteran president and his party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP), suffered a crushing electoral defeat at the hands of the opposition, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). The Zambian elections set a precedent for a peaceful transition from one-party rule to a multiparty democracy, and for an orderly transfer of power. The present article analyses the 1991 Zambian presidential and parliamentary elections, looking at the electoral system, the election campaign, the candidates, and the results. It reviews the impact of the elections in terms of political recruitment and representation, voter participation and orientation, and political accountability. It notes that the MMD's landslide victory was, as such, a severe setback for the democratization process in Zambia. In the absence of a credible parliamentary opposition, the political change in Zambia could be seen as a transition from a de jure to a de facto one-party State. Moreover, a year after the election, the MMD is coming in for increasing criticism. A number of pertinent issues which have spurred public debate include the economy, imperfect democratization, corruption, and factionalism. Bibliogr., sum.
Views
Cover