Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema warned that the 2026 elections could be delayed if constitutional reforms are not implemented.
Hichilema made the remarks during the official opening of Zambia’s parliament on 13 September 2024.
As an opposition leader, Hichilema was critical of the undemocratic practices of successive ruling parties, having contested and lost five presidential elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015, and 2016.
After defeating incumbent Edgar Lungu in 2021, Hichilema promised a “New Dawn” for Zambia, however, critics believe he is exhibiting the same tendencies he once opposed.
Hichilema cited constitutional lacunas (gaps) that could allow for the postponement of Zambian elections by eight to nine years if no amendments are made to the constitution.
Critics believe that Hichilema fears that he might not be re-elected in 2026 when general elections are due, which might explain his alleged push to extend his term in office.
This extension can be accomplished by extending the presidential term limit from five to seven years, delaying Zambia’s 2026 general election to 2028, or removing the 50%+1 majority requirement for winning the presidency.
The latter would remove the need for a presidential runoff election if Hichilema fails to secure over 50% of the votes in his bid for a second and final term in office.
Hichilema’s “warning” about constitutional lacunas refers to a situation where candidates continuously withdraw from an election before voting day, causing successive 30-day postponements.
This is based on Article 52 (6) of Zambia’s constitution which states that if a candidate dies, resigns, or is disqualified before the election, it must be canceled and a new one held within 30 days.
To amend Zambia’s constitution, a bill must receive approval from at least two-thirds (111 MPs) of the 167 members of the National Assembly.
This means that Hichilema’s ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) will need support from independent lawmakers and some members of the main opposition, the Patriotic Front (PF) to successfully amend the constitution.
Transcript of Hakainde Hichilema’s constitutional lacuna speech
The Constitution remains an important document to our country’s identity as a people. However, the country has failed to reach a consensus on this very important national document over many years.
As a country, we still need to reform our constitutional order to ensure that it truly reflecting the aspirations of our citizens. Given the substantial work that has already been done in the past, this government is committed to facilitate a least cost, efficient, and credible process [of constitutional reform] to address lacunae, omissions, or oversights in our Republican Constitution.
So, we are looking at this House under your leadership Madame Speaker to be supportive of a process that would be least cost, that will be time conscious, that would not lead to allowances and more allowances and sittings and [more] sittings.
And consensus building in this House is the one that should help us. After all, some of your constituencies are too big. After all, I don’t understand the wisdom of how members of parliament were taken out of the council chambers.
After all, some lacunae can lead us to a situation where we could have no general election for eight years. That is not a joke. Yes, we could have no elections for eight or nine years.
Those lacunae sit in the Constitution. So, those who designed or signed off that Constitution, I am not sure what they were intending to do.
So Madam Speaker, you (legislature) and us (the executive) and the judiciary, we are one government (we should work together). This is not a partisan issue, this is a national issue. I urge Mr Speaker that we work as a team (I am a team believer myself). Thank you.
