Traditional Chiefs must stay out of partisan politics – EU Election Observer Mission

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU […]

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) says it will assess whether traditional leaders remained politically neutral during Zambia’s 2026 general elections, as required under the country’s legal framework.

Speaking during an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Deputy Chief Observer Dr. Beata Martin-Rozumilowicz said the mission was aware of public debate surrounding the role of chiefs in the electoral process and would examine the issue through its observation work across the country.

 “As I understand, according to the law, the chiefs, both local and higher level, should not be political and they should remain neutral throughout the election process,” she said.

Dr. Martin-Rozumilowicz said the mission had already seen public statements concerning the issue during the campaign period but stressed that observers would assess the situation based on evidence gathered on the ground. “I’ve seen certain statements come out about this already during the course of the campaign.

 But in reality on the ground, our longterm observers will be going throughout the country and also talking to different communities, talking to different chiefs, really understanding whether they perform this neutral role or whether there are certain problems in certain areas and then the question of whether this is just localized or whether it’s a pattern throughout the country,” she said.

She said the findings would form part of the mission’s overall assessment of the electoral process. Responding to a question on international best practice, Dr. Martin-Rozumilowicz said impartiality is a fundamental democratic principle observed by international election observation missions. “In general, in most international standards, the idea of being impartial is a fundamental one.

 It’s something that we as the European Union espouse. It’s also something which other international organisations who have similar methodologies under the Declaration of Principles also espouse, including the African Union, SADC, COMESA and the Commonwealth,” she said. She added that impartiality should extend to both state institutions and traditional leadership during elections.

 “I think the idea of impartiality is something which also factors into local institutions as well. During an election process, the state structure and any tribal structures should be impartial to any kinds of contestants and should be serving their population and their citizens in an equal way, regardless of which candidates or which political view they support,” she said.

According to section 3(1)(i) of the Electoral code conduct under the electoral processes act No.35 of 2016 clearly states traditional leaders should not exert undue influence on their subjects to support any political party candidates.

 The EU Election Observation Mission has deployed long-term observers across Zambia who are monitoring different aspects of the electoral process ahead of polling day. Their findings will contribute to the mission’s preliminary statement after the elections and its final report containing recommendations for future electoral reforms.