National Party (Zambia)

Politics of Zambia
Coat of arms of Zambia
Constitution
Government
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
National symbols
flag Zambia portal

The National Party is a political party in Zambia.

History

The party was established in August 1993 by a group of nine MPs who had left the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy after the government refused to investigate corruption allegations against senior ministers.[1][2] The new party won five of the by-elections forced by their resignations from the MMD.[3]

Former minister Humphrey Mulemba was the party's presidential candidate in the 1996 general elections, finishing third in a field of five candidates with 7% of the vote. In the parliamentary elections the party nominated 98 candidates,[4] receiving 7% of the vote and winning five seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest opposition party amidst a United National Independence Party boycott.

In 2000 Sam Chipungu was elected party president.[5] In the 2001 general elections it did not run a presidential candidate, but supported Anderson Mazoka of the United Party for National Development,[6] who finished as runner-up. In the parliamentary elections it received just 0.07% of the vote and failed to win a seat, having disintegrated after the death of Mulemba in 1998 and interim leader Daniel Lisulo in 2000.[7]

In 2011 National Party leader Richard Kambulu contested a single seat in the parliamentary elections, receiving only 193 votes (0.01%).[8] Kambulu also considered running for the 2015 presidential elections but opted not to.[9]

References

  1. ^ Zambia: History The Commonwealth
  2. ^ Tom Lansford (2014) Political Handbook of the World 2014, CQ Press, p1611
  3. ^ Stephen Rule (2017) Electoral Territoriality in Southern Africa, Routledge
  4. ^ Liisa Laakso (2002) Multi-party Elections in Africa, James Currey Publishers, p309
  5. ^ Zambia: Chipungu Heads National Party All Africa, 31 August 2000
  6. ^ Lansford, p1615
  7. ^ Zambian Election Update EISA, September 2001
  8. ^ 2011 National Assembly Elections Results Electoral Commission of Zambia
  9. ^ Two Unknown Candidates Withdraw from Zambia’s Presidential Race Zambia Reports, 22 December 2014