Patriotic Front (Zambia)

Patriotic Front
PresidentGiven Lubinda (acting)
Secretary-GeneralRaphael Nakacinda[1]
FounderMichael Sata
Founded21 September 2001 (2001-09-21)
Split fromMMD
HeadquartersFarmer House, Cairo Road, Lusaka
IdeologySocial democracy
Social conservatism[2]
Political positionCentre-left[2]
National affiliationTonse Alliance
International affiliationSocialist International (consultative)[3]
Colours  Black
  Blue
  Green
  White
SloganFor Lower Taxes, More Jobs and More Money in Your Pockets
National Assembly
60 / 156
Pan African Parliament
2 / 5
Election symbol
Boat
Website
www.patrioticfront.org

The Patriotic Front (PF) is a political party in Zambia, founded in 2001 by Michael Sata. It emerged as a breakaway party from the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) after Sata was not selected as the MMD's presidential candidate for the 2001 elections. The PF is primarily supported by the youth and the urban poor, and it gained significant political influence over time.

The party first came to power after winning the 2011 general elections, with Michael Sata winning the presidential election. After Sata's death in 2014, Edgar Lungu became the party's leader and won subsequent presidential elections in 2015 and 2016. However, in the 2021 elections, the PF lost power to the United Party for National Development (UPND) led by Hakainde Hichilema.

The PF is associated with social democracy[4][2] and has been a member of the Socialist International as a consultative party. Its political position is considered centre-left.

History

The Patriotic Front (PF) was formed as a political party on 21 September 2001.[5] In 2000, after Chiluba lost a bid to change the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term, Michael Sata thought he would be endorsed as the MMD presidential candidate. The answer was given in 2001 when Chiluba noted that none of those (including Sata) who were in his government at the time were capable of winning the elections. At a secret ballot, Chiluba personally nominated Mwanawasa and voted for him to be the presidential candidate.[6] Angered by this turn of events, Sata quit the MMD and founded the PF.[7] Sata became leader of the PF and was its presidential candidate for the 2001 general elections; he received 3.4% of the vote, finishing seventh out of the eleven candidates. In the National Assembly elections the party received 2.8% of the vote, winning a single seat.

Sata was again the party's presidential candidate in the 2006 general elections, this time finishing second to Levy Patrick Mwanawasa with 29% of the vote. With its National Assembly vote share increasing to 23%, the party won 43 seats, becoming the largest opposition party. Following Mwanawasa's death, a presidential by-election was held in 2008. Sata finished second to MMD candidate Rupiah Banda with 38% of the vote to Banda's 40%.

The 2011 general elections saw a reversal of the 2008 result, with Sata beating Banda by a margin of 42% to 35%. The PF also became the largest party in the National Assembly, winning 60 of the 150 seats. However, Sata died in office in October 2014. Vice-President Guy Scott took over as interim president until a by-election was held in January 2015. Edgar Lungu was selected as the party's candidate, and won the election with 48% of the vote. Inonge Wina was appointed as the Vice President of Zambia.

In 2016, Edgar Lungu won again as the president with 50.35%, beating Hakainde Hichilema by 100,530 votes or 2.72%.

In the lead up to the 2021 general election, Amnesty International publicly raised concerns about the violation of civil liberties, crackdowns on dissent and police killings while the party held political power.[8]

At the 2021 general election, Edgar Lungu was once again the party's candidate. The PF came out second at that election, getting 1,870,780 votes while Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND got 2,852,348 votes.[9] The PF once again became the largest opposition party, winning 60 of the 156 parliamentary seats.

Factionalism

Soon after the 2021 general election, Lungu decided to retire from active politics and the party's vice president, Given Lubinda, became the acting president of the party going forward.[10] Eight Patriotic Front members (excluding Lubinda) decided to stand for the position of party president, awaiting a party convention.[11][12][13] Some members claimed that the Patriotic Front was taking too long to hold its party convention to choose the leader.[14][15]

In October 2023, there was a controversial extraordinary general conference that took place in which Miles Sampa was declared the president of the Patriotic Front party.[16][17] Lubinda and other members of the party argued that the convention that took place was illegal and was against the party's constitution,[16] with the matter taken to the Lusaka High Court.[18]

In the same month, Edgar Lungu had announced his return to active politics and Lubinda subsequently gave Lungu back the position of party president for the faction[19][20][21] while he would remain as the faction's vice-president.[22][23] The high court lifted the injunction on Sampa assuming his role as party president, which meant that the Patriotic Front would have two factions with Lungu as the president of one and Sampa as the president of the other.[16][24][25][26] On 25 May 2024, the Lusaka High Court dismissed a case in which six of the PF presidential candidates challenged the election of Sampa as the PF president, declaring him as the party president until further notice.[27]

As the leader of one of the two factions of the PF, Lungu decided to join the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), an alliance of opposition political parties in Zambia, in early 2024.[28] In November 2024, Lungu's PF faction was invited to join the Tonse Alliance and it accepted, with Lungu being appointed the alliance chairperson[29] and being chosen as the presidential candidate for the alliance for the 2026 general election.[30] Due to UKA not being in support of a political party belonging to more than one alliance, it was decided that Lungu and the PF were no-longer part of UKA.[31][32][33]

On 30 June 2024, Sampa decided to dismiss his secretary-general (SG), Morgan Ng'ona, from his SG position.[34][35] Within a week, the court issued an ex-parte stay order which blocked Sampa's decision to dismiss Ng'ona as SG.[34][35] Ng'ona then decided to dismiss Sampa as the president of the party and appoint Robert Chabinga (who was the Mafinga MP and leader of the opposition[36]) as the acting party president in July 2024, effectively creating a third faction within the Patriotic Front.[37] This leadership dispute between Sampa and Chabinga was taken to court.[38][39][40]

On 1 May 2025, Sampa decided to reunite his Patriotic Front faction with the faction for Lungu, effectively stepping down from the party presidency.[41][42][43][44] Lungu was handed back the party presidency and Given Lubinda was handed back the party vice-presidency by Sampa.[41][43] On the morning of 5 June 2025, Lungu died after suffering cardiac complications from a surgery he was undergoing at the Mediclinic Medforum in Pretoria, South Africa[45][46] and once again, Lubinda became the acting president of this PF faction.[47][48] Chabinga was still the acting president of the other faction[49] and the matter of who is the rightful leader of the PF was still in court.[50]

On 11 March 2026, the Patriotic Front faction with Lubinda as the acting president formed the PF Pamodzi Alliance and officially decided to exit from the Tonse Alliance due to internal disagreements.[51][52]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party candidate Votes % Result
2001 Michael Sata 59,172 3.40% Lost N
2006 804,748 29.37% Lost N
2008 683,150 38.13% Lost N
2011 1,170,966 41.98% Elected Y
2015 Edgar Lungu 807,925 48.33% Elected Y
2016 1,860,877 50.35% Elected Y
2021 1,870,780 38.71% Lost N

National Assembly elections

Election Votes % Seats +/– Position Outcome
2001 49,362 2.82%
1 / 159
 1 7th Opposition
2006 622,864 22.96%
43 / 159
 42 2nd Opposition
2011 1,037,108 38.42%
60 / 159
 17 1st Minority government
2016 1,537,946 42.01%
80 / 156
 20 1st Majority government
2021 1,722,718 35.70%
60 / 156
 20 2nd Opposition

References

  1. ^ "Miles endorses Lungu for 2026 – Daily Revelation News". Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Zambia - Africa Elects". africaelects.com. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20131216005724/https://www.socialistinternational.org/images/dynamicImages/files/Council%20decisions-1.pdf Decisions of the Council
  4. ^ "Zambia". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Former Chiluba ally announces bid to succeed him". www.thenewhumanitarian.org. 8 October 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  6. ^ Presidential term limits in Africa by Daniel Vencovsky Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine AfricaFiles
  7. ^ "Who will be Zambia's next president?". Knowledge for Development. 27 September 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Zambia: Killings and brutal crackdown against dissent set the tone for August election". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  9. ^ Mfula, Chris (16 August 2021). "Zambia opposition leader Hichilema wins landslide in presidential election". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Zambia : Lubinda focused on Uniting PF rather than contesting for Presidency". 10 April 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  11. ^ "PF LAWYERS APPLY FOR INJUNCTION TO STOP MILES SAMPA FROM MASQUERADING AS PF PRESIDENT". The Zambian Observer. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Miles Sampa fights on, challenges PF". Times of Zambia. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  13. ^ Chisola, Esther (8 August 2023). "I've withdrawn my matter, PF has no excuse now not to hold convention – Miles". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Miles Sampa fights on, challenges PF". Times of Zambia. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  15. ^ Chisola, Esther (8 August 2023). "I've withdrawn my matter, PF has no excuse now not to hold convention – Miles". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  16. ^ a b c "Miles Sampa Elected as PF Party President in Controversial Extraordinary General Conference". Lusaka Times. 25 October 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  17. ^ Mofya, Mwenya. "Miles takes over PF as Lubinda expels him". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  18. ^ "Zambia : Miles Sampa Remains PF President After High Court Lifts Injunction". 28 October 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Edgar Lungu - ex-Zambian president makes political comeback". 29 October 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Ex-President Lungu returns to active politics, putting to rest months of speculations". Zambia Monitor. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  21. ^ Sinyangwe, Chiwoyu (9 November 2023). "Daggers drawn in Zambia as Lungu announces plans to retake control of main opposition". The Africa Report. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  22. ^ "POLICE ARREST PF VICE PRESIDENT GIVEN LUBINDA - Diamond Media". 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  23. ^ "Time will come when we shall have party after party, Lubinda assures PF members". Zambia: News Diggers!. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  24. ^ "PF finally torn apart? Faction declares Sampa president, another expels him; Court grants restraining order". Zambia Monitor. 25 October 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  25. ^ "Zambia : Police Deployed to Guard PF Secretariat Amid Fears of Clashes Following Lungu's Return to Politics". Lusaka Times. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  26. ^ "I'm still PF president, there's no pact with Lungu – Miles". Zambia: News Diggers!. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Zambia : Lusaka High Court Upholds Miles Sampa's Election as PF President". 25 May 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Zambian politics nomadic in nature, we're waiting for others to join us – Lungu". Zambia: News Diggers!. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  29. ^ Kasabo, Angel (7 November 2024). "TONSE ALLIANCE LUNCHED, ECL AT THE HELM". rcv.co.zm.
  30. ^ "Zambia : Edgar Lungu Accepts 2026 Bid, Urges Opposition Unity Against Economic Crisis". Lusaka Times. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  31. ^ "PF has effectively resigned from UKA, we don't believe in duality – Saki". Zambia: News Diggers!. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  32. ^ "LUNGU HAS NO PART IN UKA – SABOI … UKA can't be forced into a polygamous marriage". Daily Revelation News. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  33. ^ "UKA disowns 'double-dealers'". Times of Zambia. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  34. ^ a b "Court stays Sampa's decision to remove Ng'ona as PF SG". Zambia: News Diggers!. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  35. ^ a b "PF faction leader, Sampa, seeks dismissal of ex-parte order blocking removal of Ng'ona as Secretary General". Zambia Monitor. 5 December 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  36. ^ "Robert M Chabinga". National Assembly of Zambia. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Ng'ona expels Miles, appoints Chabinga as acting president". Zambia: News Diggers!. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  38. ^ "Sampa seeks leave to start contempt proceedings against Chabinga, Registrar of Societies". Zambia: News Diggers!. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  39. ^ "MILES SAMPA FILES CONTEMPT CHARGES AGAINST REGISTRAR, CHABINGA". Diamond Media. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  40. ^ "Sampa seeks contempt action against PF faction leader, Chabinga, in escalating power struggle". Zambia Monitor. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  41. ^ a b "Miles relinquishes PF presidency, endorses Lungu for 2026". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  42. ^ SICHULA, AUGUSTINE (1 May 2025). "Sampa endorses Lungu for 2026 presidency, confirms Zambia Monitor's reports on moves to unite PF factions". Zambia Monitor. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  43. ^ a b "Sampa endorses ECL for 2026". Daily Nation. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  44. ^ "Miles endorses Lungu for 2026 – Daily Revelation News". Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  45. ^ "Edgar Lungu has died of complications during surgery". 5 June 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  46. ^ "Edgar Lungu: Zambia's former president dies aged 68". BBC News. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  47. ^ Nalwimba, Mwiche. "All PF members are potential prisoners under UPND – Lubinda". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  48. ^ Mwansa, Ivy. "Lubinda challenges Fr Mukosa to explain how he misled Lungu family". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  49. ^ Chabala, Sherry. "I'm the legitimate PF president, says Chabinga". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  50. ^ "Sampa, Chabinga or…? Lusaka High court reserves judgment in PF leadership legitimacy case". Zambia Monitor. 9 December 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  51. ^ Mabenga, Elizabeth. "Lubinda's PF launches Pamodzi Alliance, distances itself from Tonse". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  52. ^ SICHULA, AUGUSTINE (11 March 2026). "Lubinda-led PF faction forms Pamodzi Alliance, cuts ties with Tonse Alliance (Video)". Zambia Monitor. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.