VZCZCXRO9660
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #1694/01 3540853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200853Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3648
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 001694 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ZA
SUBJECT: ZAMBIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP 
 
Refs: A) Lusaka 1054 and previous; B) Lusaka 1652; C) Lusaka 1349; 
D) Lusaka 702 
 
¶1. (U) Topics Covered: 
 
-- United Party for National Development VP Quits 
-- Liuwa Constituency By-elections 
-- Charges Against PF Leader Sata Dismissed 
-- Threat to Ban Political Rallies 
-- EU Election Observation Mission Final Report 
 
Chisanga Quits UPND 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Patrick Chisanga, the Vice President of the opposition United 
Party for National Development (UPND), resigned from the party on 
December 12, saying that he had lost the confidence of UPND 
President, Hakainde Hichilema.   Chisanga recently generated 
controversy when he said that Hichilema should not automatically be 
named the United Democratic Alliance (UDA)'s presidential candidate 
in the 2011 elections.  The UPND is the most prominent member of the 
UDA, which also includes the Forum for Democracy and Development 
(FDD) and the United National Independence Party (UNIP).  In leaving 
the party, Chisanga follows other prominent UPND leaders who 
resigned following the UPND General Assembly, July 13-14, 2006, (Ref 
A) citing tribalism, harassment, and intolerance for leaders who do 
not speak the Tonga language of Southern Province. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Comment: Chisanga's departure weakens the UPND's claim that 
it is a party with national appeal.  Chisanga, a Bemba from Northern 
Province, was the most senior remaining UPND leader from outside 
Southern Province, UPND's home base.  From its inception, UPND has 
been accused of being a tribal party because it draws the majority 
of its support and membership from Tongas in Southern Province. 
Chisanga's presence in its senior ranks gave it a semblance of 
national identity.  Other well-known non-Tonga leaders who left the 
party prior to the September 28 tripartite elections include former 
UPND Vice Presidents Sakwiba Sikota and Robert Sichinga, and former 
UPND Chairman Henry Mtonga, who joined to form the United Liberal 
Party (ULP).  End Comment. 
 
Liuwa Constituency Parliamentary By-Election 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) candidate Lubinda 
Imasiku won the December 7 parliamentary by-election in Liuwa 
constituency in Western Province with 57 percent of the vote.  The 
by-election was triggered by the October 3 death of MMD Member of 
Parliament (MP), David Maliwa Kashweka, who was elected in the 
September 28 tripartite elections.  The United Democratic Alliance 
(UDA) candidate, Shuwanga Nyambe, was the runner-up in the 
four-candidate race, receiving 28 percent of the vote. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Local NGOs and residents in Liuwa noted a number of 
campaign abuses in the predominantly rural constituency, which is 
afflicted by hunger, lack of economic opportunity, and high poverty 
levels.  The ruling MMD capitalized on the region's poverty by 
distributing food and clothing to the local population during the 
year preceding the September 28 tripartite elections.  During the 
by-election campaign, the MMD was the only party able to cover the 
entire large constituency, primarily because the party was able to 
access government resources, including official vehicles.  In order 
to avoid rules prohibiting the use of government resources in 
campaigns, sources say that the MMD disguised the vehicles by 
removing official license plates and replacing them with private 
number plates. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The ruling party also allegedly coerced voters.  At a 
campaign rally in Liuwa, President Mwanawasa reportedly warned 
voters that their constituency risked having no development if they 
voted for any of the opposition candidates.  Alternatively, he 
promised voters that they would receive adequate food supplies, 
fertilizers and clothing materials if they voted for the MMD 
candidate. 
 
Threat to Ban Political Rallies 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The government dedicated considerable state media resources 
to damage control following a widely reported December 15 statement 
by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Chrispine Musosha that the GRZ 
had requested the police to "stop issuing permits for political 
meetings to all careless leaders."  In comments that were reported 
in local and international media, including the BBC, Mushosha said 
that the decision to ban political meetings followed "the enormous 
pressure that has been exerted on the President and his wife from 
the opposition parties."  Following the uproar generated by the 
comments, Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha clarified that 
the GRZ had not instructed the police to refuse to grant permits for 
rallies.  In the prepared statement quoted in front-page articles in 
both government controlled newspapers on December 16, Shikapwasha 
 
LUSAKA 00001694  002 OF 003 
 
 
said that that the Public Order Act (POA) would continue to govern 
all public meetings and that the government would not issue 
instructions to go against the law. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  Even if it was made without the GRZ's 
endorsement, Musosha's statement reveals the ruling party's 
frustration with the opposition party Patriotic Front (PF) leader 
Michael Sata.  The PF leader's steady stream of criticism of 
President Mwanawasa, his wife Maureen, and the MMD (and the GRZ's 
frequent and intemperate undiplomatic responses) has made him an 
unwelcome media fixture, at least from the government's perspective. 
 End Comment. 
 
Charges Against Sata Dismissed 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (U) On December 14, the Lusaka Magistrate's Court granted a 
defense motion to quash the indictment charging Patriotic Front 
leader Michael Sata with over-declaring his net worth and filing a 
false declaration of assets in connection with his presidential 
nomination. (Ref B)  The government alleged that Sata falsely 
claimed 350 million Kwacha (USD 87,500) in assets resulting from a 
judgment in a defamation case he had brought against former Minister 
of Sport, Youth and Child Development George Chulumanda, although 
the judgment had been set aside on appeal.  In quashing the 
indictment, the Magistrate's Court held that the Electoral Act 
requires that candidates swear to their citizenship and parentage 
but does not require the declaration of assets and liabilities to be 
made under oath.  Although the false declaration of assets could be 
an offense under the penal code, the court ruled that because Sata 
was charged under the Electoral Act, the indictment was defective. 
The GRZ said that it would appeal the court's decision. 
 
EU Election Observers Report 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) The recently released final report of the European Union 
Election Observation Mission to Zambia's September 28 tripartite 
elections concluded that the presidential, parliamentary and local 
government elections were "generally well-administered, largely 
peaceful and offered voters a wide range of candidates to choose 
from in a genuinely competitive process."  (See Ref C for summary of 
EU interim report).  In a briefing for donors, EU Chief Election 
Observer Annemie Neyts said that the 2006 elections were a "marked 
improvement" over the elections in 2001.  She singled out the high 
voter turnout and the transparency of the Electoral Commission for 
Zambia (ECZ) as particularly bright spots.  Neyts also said the 
voter education campaign conducted prior to the elections was 
"generally successful," although she noted that voter education 
efforts did not reach some of Zambia's more remote areas. (Ref A). 
The EU report is available on the internet at 
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations 
/human_rights/eu_election_ass_observ/zambia/i ndex.htm 
 
  --Electoral Law Reform 
 
¶11. (U) The EU report said that the Electoral Act of 2006, together 
with other legislation, provided an adequate framework for the 
conduct of democratic elections, but noted that the new law did not 
incorporate many key reforms recommended in the report of the 
Electoral Reform Technical Committee (ERTC) (Ref D).  Of particular 
concern was the GRZ's failure to reform campaign financing rules. 
The report concluded that "together with the advantages of 
incumbency, the absence of regulations governing campaign finance 
resulted in an uneven playing field for contestants." 
 
¶12. (U) To strengthen the electoral process, the EU observers 
recommended that Zambia undertake a number of steps, beginning with 
the reform of the electoral law and related legislation.  To promote 
compliance and enhance enforcement, electoral laws should be 
simplified and consolidated into one statutory instrument.  The 
report recommended that the government and other stakeholders should 
consider introducing a majority requirement for presidential 
elections when formulating the new electoral law and that the law 
should also provide for the establishment of a permanent independent 
election tribunal for the resolution of election disputes. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Neyts emphasized the need to introduce legislation that 
would increase the independence of political parties.  Legislation 
to limit campaign spending and regulate party financing would create 
a more level political playing field.  The introduction of public 
funding for political parties would also advance this goal.  She 
added that political parties also require internal reform, noting 
that a democracy is only as strong as its parties 
 
  --Media Access and Coverage 
 
¶14. (U) With respect to media access and coverage, the EU observers 
reported that freedom of expression and the right to publish were 
respected during the campaign period and that the media coverage of 
the elections was better than in the past.  Although candidates 
 
LUSAKA 00001694  003 OF 003 
 
 
gained access to the state-owned media as a result of a series of 
programs sponsored by the ECZ, the EU nevertheless concluded that 
"in both its television and radio services ZNBC (the national 
broadcaster) failed to provide balance between candidates in key 
areas such as news bulletins, and there was a strong bias in favor 
of the MMD."  The report concluded the Independent Broadcast 
Authority (IBA) Act should be implemented as a step towards 
transforming ZNBC into an independent public broadcaster. 
 
  --Problems with Vote Count and Results Management 
 
¶15. (U) The EU report also noted problems that occurred with the 
counting, tabulation and reconciliation of votes, which undermined 
confidence in the results of the elections.  The report attributed 
the problems, in part, to inadequate training for election 
officials, compounded by poorly designed and unnecessarily 
complicated return forms.  In addition, the presiding officer 
handbook developed by the ECZ was incomplete and difficult to use, 
leaving many officials unable to find answers to procedural 
questions. 
 
¶16. (U) Worse than the problems with the count were the 
complications with the tabulation and electronic transmission of 
results, which the report described as the "weakest step in the 
whole election process."  Although the system for transmitting the 
results electronically was sound, the optical-marked recognition 
(OMR) forms were too difficult to use and minor input errors 
frequently caused the system to reject forms.  In the end, the ECZ 
was forced to abandon the electronic system in favor of faxing or 
physically delivering results to Lusaka. 
 
  --Report's Long-term Impact 
 
¶17. (SBU) Beyond its observations and recommendations, the EU 
Observer Mission report is important because it provides a baseline 
against which to judge the success of preparations for future 
presidential and parliamentary elections.  When compared to the EU 
Observer Mission report on Zambia's 2001 elections, which concluded 
that the "Electoral Commission of Zambia has failed to fulfill its 
mandate on behalf of the electors of Zambia," the 2006 report 
reveals substantial progress.  The government clearly took the 
earlier report's criticism of the ECZ's performance seriously in 
preparing for the 2006 elections, appointing a strong and competent 
leader in Justice Irene Mambilima to lead the Commission.  Donor 
representatives also referred to the report's recommendations in 
their consultations with the GRZ and the ECZ in the run-up to 2006 
elections.  The 2006 report could have a similar significant impact 
on 2011 election preparations. 
 
MARTINEZ