Patriotic Front | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| President | Given Lubinda (acting) |
| Secretary-General | Raphael Nakacinda[1] |
| Founder | Michael Sata |
| Founded | 21 September 2001 (2001-09-21) |
| Split from | MMD |
| Headquarters | Farmer House, Cairo Road,Lusaka |
| Ideology | Social democracy Social conservatism[2] |
| Political position | Centre-left[2] |
| National affiliation | Tonse Alliance |
| International affiliation | Socialist International (consultative)[3] |
| Colours | Black Blue Green White |
| Slogan | For Lower Taxes, More Jobs and More Money in Your Pockets |
| National Assembly | 60 / 156 |
| Pan African Parliament | 2 / 5 |
| Election symbol | |
| Boat | |
| Website | |
| www | |
 |
|---|
|
 Zambia portal |
ThePatriotic Front (PF) is a political party inZambia, founded in 2001 byMichael Sata. It emerged as a breakaway party from theMovement 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 the2011 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 the2021 elections, the PF lost power to theUnited Party for National Development (UPND) led byHakainde Hichilema.
The PF is associated withsocial democracy[4][2] and has been a member of the Socialist International as a consultative party. Its political position is consideredcentre-left.
The Patriotic Front was formed as a political party on 21 September 2001.[5] In 2000, afterChiluba lost a bid to change theconstitution 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 asecret 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] At the same time, notable figures likeChriston Tembo,Godfrey Miyanda andEdith Nawakwi formed theForum for Democracy and Development (FDD) Party. Sata became leader of the PF and was its presidential candidate for the2001 general elections; he received 3.4% of the vote, finishing seventh out of the eleven candidates. In theNational Assembly elections the party received 2.8% of the vote, winning a single seat.
Sata was again the party's presidential candidate in the2006 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, apresidential by-election was held in 2008. Sata finished second to MMD candidateRupiah Banda with 38% of the vote to Banda's 40%.
The2011 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-PresidentGuy Scott took over asinterim president until aby-election was held in January 2015.Edgar Lungu 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%, beatingHakainde 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 the2021 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 theUPND got 2,852,348 votes.[9] The PF once again became the largest opposition party, winning 60 of the 156 parliamentary seats.
| Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Michael Sata | 59,172 | 3.40% | Lost N |
| 2006 | 804,748 | 29.37% | LostN | |
| 2008 | 683,150 | 38.13% | LostN | |
| 2011 | 1,170,966 | 41.98% | Elected Y | |
| 2015 | Edgar Lungu | 807,925 | 48.33% | ElectedY |
| 2016 | 1,860,877 | 50.35% | ElectedY | |
| 2021 | 1,870,780 | 38.71% | LostN |
| 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 |
| International | |
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| Other | |
