Running Mate – US Experience
By Dickson Jere
The running mate system is borrowed from the US. They have had it for many decades. Presidential candidates choose their running mates who eventually become Vice President if they win the elections. The two contest the polls as pair – a composite set. One cannot run for election without the other.
US faced similar problems like Zambia many moons ago. In 1972, Presidential candidate George McGovern picked Lawyer and Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate. But when the media unearthed negative stuff on Eagleton – including that he had suffered bouts of depression throughout his life – the running mate withdrew from the race. Since the constitution is silent about that aspect, the party (Democrats) were allowed to replace the running mate. Presidential candidate replaced him with Sargent Shriver as his new running mate.
In the US, they have left this issue of replacement to the political parties even though they also faced intense debates about the timing and printing of ballots if the withdraw is done late. We can learn a lot from that side where this concept of running mate came from.
So, this is the point I have been making that Presidential candidate cannot run alone under the current system. One needs to have a running mate for the election of presidency.
In fact, this was made clear in the recent case of Isaac Mwanza v Dolika Banda when the Constitutional Court in Zambia explained thus;
“…a presidential nomination is a composite nomination, comprising both the presidential candidate and the running mate,” the Judges rightly said.
Now, since it is composite, then it cannot stand if one withdraws from the race. In other ways, you cannot have a presidential candidate without running mate or running mate without presidential candidate!
Yesterday, we had a presidential candidate withdraw from the race. Where does it put his running mate? It goes without saying that the running mate also falls out of the race! The two runs as a set or pair in the presidential election.
