The Patriotic Front (PF) is a

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

political party 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 ...

. The party was formed by

Michael Sata Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who was the fifth president of Zambia, from 23 September 2011 until his death on 28 October 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a maj ...

as a breakaway party of the

Movement for Multiparty Democracy The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) also known as New Hope MMD is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past lead ...

(MMD) in 2001 after the President

Frederick Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as th ...

nominated

Levy Mwanawasa Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corrupti ...

as its presidential candidate for 2001 elections. The party's main base of support are usually the youth and poor people in urban centres (although this support wavered starting in 2021), as well as members of the

Bemba people Bemba may refer to: * Bemba language (Chibemba), a Bantu language spoken in Zambia * Bemba people (AbaBemba), an ethnic group of central Africa * Jean-Pierre Bemba, the former vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo * A Caribbean drum, ...

Copperbelt Province Copperbelt Province is a province in Zambia which covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the immed ...

and

Lusaka Province Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. Its capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital. It is the smallest province in Zambia, with an area of 21,896 km2. Lusaka is also Zambia's most populated and most densely po ...

. After several years, the PF gained power in the 2011 general elections, and governed until the

2021 elections Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2021 United Nations Security Council election * 2021 national electoral calendar * 2021 local electoral calendar Africa * 2021 ...

Formation

The Patriotic Front was formed as a political party in 2001. In 2000, after

Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as t ...

lost a bid to change the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

to allow him to stand for 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 The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

, Chiluba personally nominated Mwanawasa and voted for him to be the presidential candidate. Angered by this turn of events, Sata quit the MMD and founded the PF. At the same time, notable figures like

Christon Tembo Lt. Gen. Christon Tembo (1944 – 6 March 2009) was a Zambian politician and army commander. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and the sixth vice-president of Zambia from 1997 to 2001. He ran for president in the December 20 ...

Godfrey Miyanda Godfrey Miyanda (born 1944) is a Zambian politician and former military figure. In 1993, he served as the fifth vice-president of Zambia under Frederick Chiluba's administration. Miyanda professes to be a born-again Christian. He is married to ...

and

Edith Nawakwi Edith Zewelani Nawakwi (born ) is a Zambian politician and economist by profession. She is the first woman in Zambia to hold the post of Minister of Finance following her appointment in 1998 since Zambia's independence 33 years previously to that ...

formed the

Forum for Democracy and Development The Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) is a political party in Zambia. History The FDD was founded in 2001 by former members of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), disaffected by Frederick Chiluba's efforts to change the constit ...

(FDD). Party. 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 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 ...

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 Rupiah Bwezani Banda (19 February 1937 – 11 March 2022) was a Zambian politician who served as the fourth president of Zambia from 2008 to 2011, taking over from Levy Mwanawasa, who died as the sitting president. Banda was an active participan ...

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 Guy Lindsay Scott (born 1 June 1944) is a Zambian politician, who served as acting President of Zambia from 2014 to 2015, and was the Vice President from 2011 to 2014. Scott became acting President upon Michael Sata's death in office on 28 ...

took over as

interim president An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or a vacation) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, injury, resignation, dismissal ...

until a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held in January 2015.

Edgar Lungu Edgar Chagwa Lungu (born 11 November 1956) is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Fo ...

was selected as the party's candidate, and won the election with 48% of the vote. In 2016 Edgar Lungu won again as the president with 50.35%, beating

Hakainde Hichilema Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016 ...

, now the President of Zambia 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.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

External links

Facebook page of the Patriotic Front (PF)
{{Authority control 2001 establishments in Zambia Conservative parties in Africa Consultative member parties of the Socialist International Political parties established in 2001 Political parties in Zambia Social conservative parties Social democratic parties in Zambia