The Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) is a political party in

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

History

The FDD was founded in 2001 by former members of the

Movement for Multi-Party 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), disaffected by

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 t ...

's efforts to change the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term. In the 2001 general elections it nominated

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 ...

as its presidential candidate; Tembo finished third in a field of eleven candidates with 13% of the vote. 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 r ...

elections the party received 16% of the vote, winning 12 seats. Three FDD politicians were later invited by President

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 corrupt ...

to serve in a 'unity cabinet', and they were expelled from the party for accepting the invitation. In 2005 the FDD chose Edith Nawakwi, a former MMD minister, as its president. However, in 2006 the government de-registered the FDD on the grounds that it had failed to submit an annual report. The FDD subsequently joined the United Democratic Alliance, which put forward United Party for National Development leader

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 20 ...

as its presidential candidate for the 2006 general elections. Hilchema finished third with 25% of the vote, whilst the UDA won 24 seats in the National Assembly, down from the combined 74 the alliance's member parties had won in 2001. The FDD did not nominate a candidate for the 2008 presidential by-election, but put forward Nawakwi for the 2011 general elections. She received 0.2% of the vote, finishing seventh out of the nine candidates. The party won a single seat in the National Assembly, Chifumu Banda in Chasefu. Nawakwi ran for the presidency again in the 2015 presidential by-election, finishing third with 0.9% of the vote. The FDD currently holds one seat in the

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

{{Zambian political parties 2001 establishments in Zambia Political parties established in 2001 Political parties in Zambia Social democratic parties in Zambia