1988 Zambian general election

← 1983

26 October 1988

1991 →

Presidential election

Turnout

58.81%


Nominee	Kenneth Kaunda
Party	UNIP
Popular vote	1,414,000
Percentage	95.48%

President before election

Kenneth Kaunda
UNIP

Elected President

Kenneth Kaunda
UNIP

Politics of Zambia


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v t e

General elections were held in Zambia on 26 October 1988. At the time, the country was a one-party state with the United National Independence Party (UNIP) as the sole legal party. UNIP leader Kenneth Kaunda was automatically re-elected for a sixth five-year term as President with 95.5% of the vote, whilst UNIP also won all 125 seats in the National Assembly.^[1] Voter turnout was around 60% in the parliamentary elections,^[2] but 58.8% in the presidential elections.^[3]

Two years later UNIP was forced to give up its monopoly of power as part of an agreement with the opposition. The next elections had been scheduled for 1993, but snap elections were called in 1991 as a result of the agreement.

Campaign

Prior to the elections, primary elections were held to elect candidates for the 125 constituencies. Only UNIP members could vote in the primaries, and the top three candidates would be able to stand for the National Assembly election.^[4] In total, 706 people stood for election to the National Assembly, of which 612 were approved by the UNIP central committee.^[2]

Results

President

Kaunda was the sole candidate for president, and voters voted yes or no to his candidacy.


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Kenneth Kaunda	United National Independence Party	1,414,000	95.48
Against			67,000	4.52
Total			1,481,000	100.00

Valid votes			1,481,000	96.86
Invalid/blank votes			48,000	3.14
Total votes			1,529,000	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			2,600,000	58.81
Source: Nohlen et al.

National Assembly


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United National Independence Party			125	0
Presidential appointees				10	0
Appointed Speaker				1	0
Total				136	0

Registered voters/turnout		2,600,000	–
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath

Following protests, riots and an attempted coup in 1990, the constitution was amended to allow other parties to challenge UNIP in the 1991 elections.

References

^ Elections in Zambia African Elections Database
^ ^a ^b Zambia 1988 Inter-Parliamentary Union
^ Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p954 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
^ Zambia: 1973 and 1978 one-party elections EISA

v t e Elections and referendums in Zambia
Presidential elections	1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1991 1996 2001 2006 2008 2011 2015 2016 2021
Parliamentary elections	1918 1920 1922 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 1941 1944 1948 1954 1959 1962 1964 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Local elections	1963 (Aug) 1963 (Nov) 1966 1970 1975 1977 1980 1988 1992 1998 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Referendums	1922 1969 2016
See also:Elections in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland · By-elections in Zambia