PF expulsions bad for opposition unity

PF expulsions bad for opposition unity

Editorial Comment

THE decision by the Patriotic Front (PF) central committee led by acting president Given Lubinda to expel Mporokoso Member of Parliament Brian Mundubile and 13 others could not have come at a worse time for a party already battling a deepening leadership crisis.

At a moment when unity, restraint and dialogue are urgently needed ahead of the crucial 2026 general elections, the latest expulsions risk pushing the former ruling party further into political wilderness.

Many Zambians had hoped that the PF, once a formidable political force, would find a way to resolve its internal disputes and re-emerge as a united and credible opposition. Instead, the decision to axe senior figures has reinforced perceptions of a party at war with itself. A party on its way to self-imposed oblivion. Far from healing old wounds, the expulsions appear to have torn them wide open.

There is no disputing that Mundubile, former home affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo and Lunte Member of Parliament Mutotwe Kafwaya are political heavyweights within the PF. They are figures with national profiles, solid support bases and long histories in the party.

Their removal from the fold is not a minor administrative action. It is a seismic political event that will inevitably weaken party structures and alienate a significant section of the PF’s support.

At present, many PF supporters and even neutral sympathisers are confused and disillusioned. They are struggling to understand where the party is headed and who truly speaks for it.

By choosing expulsion over engagement, Lubinda and his colleagues may have deepened this sense of drift and uncertainty. In politics, perception matters, and the perception now is of a party more focused on settling scores than preparing for national leadership.

We would have expected a different approach from the PF leadership. At this delicate juncture, wisdom would have dictated the convening of an inclusive roundtable, bringing all aggrieved factions together for frank and sincere dialogue. Political parties, especially those aspiring to govern again, must demonstrate maturity in the handling of internal dissent. Rushing to punitive measures sends the wrong signal both to party members and to the electorate watching closely.

The response from Mundubile’s faction has only added another layer of complexity. Through their interim spokesperson, Tonse Alliance  deputy spokesperson Dr Lawrence Mwelwa, the group has dismissed the expulsions as legally ineffective, arguing that the central committee acted in defiance of a court injunction.

“Any action taken in defiance of the injunction was not only invalid but potentially contemptuous. A body barred from acting cannot lawfully expel, sanction or declare forfeiture of membership,” Dr Mwelwa said, insisting that those purportedly expelled remain unaffected.

This legal and procedural contestation means the PF may now be headed for prolonged battles in the courts and in the court of public opinion. Such distractions are costly. They drain energy, resources and goodwill, all of which are essential if the party is to mount a serious challenge in 2026.

In our view, the expulsion of Mundubile and his colleagues may well prove to be the last straw in the PF’s steady decline. It raises painful but necessary questions for the current leadership. Would the party’s founder, the late former president Michael Sata, have been proud to see the PF in its current fractured state? Would his successor, the late Edgar Lungu, have endorsed a path that seems to prioritise exclusion over consensus?

These are not questions asked out of malice, but out of concern. The PF remains an important part of Zambia’s political history and democratic landscape. Its collapse through avoidable internal strife would be a loss not just to its members, but to the broader democratic contest.

Zambians are watching, anxious and hopeful that reason will yet prevail. Whether the PF can rise above this moment and rediscover its sense of common purpose remains to be seen. What is clear is that the road to 2026 will be unforgiving to parties that choose division over unity.