General elections were held in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

on 12 December 1978. At the time, the country was a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

with the

United National Independence Party The United National Independence Party (UNIP) is a political party in Zambia. It governed the country from 1964 to 1991 under the socialist presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, and was the sole legal party in the country between 1973 and 1990. On 4 A ...

(UNIP) as the sole legal party. UNIP leader

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Dissat ...

was automatically elected to a fourth five-year term as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, with 80.7% of voters voting to confirm him in office. UNIP also won all 125 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. Voter turnout was around 65% in the parliamentary election, but 66.7% in the presidential election.

Campaign

Prior to the elections,

primary elections Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

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.Zambia: 1973 and 1978 one-party elections
EISA However, 30 candidates who had won primaries, including six sitting MPs, were vetoed by the party's central committee. In total, 732 people stood for election to the National Assembly. In six constituencies (in which there were 87,482 registered voters) there was only one candidate, who was returned unopposed.
African Elections Database

Results

President

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

National Assembly

References

{{Zambian elections

1978 in Zambia

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

One-party elections

December 1978 events in Africa

Campaign

Results

President

National Assembly

See also

References