Tonse leadership crisis deepens after Lubinda rebuke

LUSAKA — Patriotic Front Vice President and Acting President Given Lubinda has issued a firm rejection of the Tonse Alliance’s January 2026 decision to demote the Patriotic Front from its position as the coalition’s primary political vehicle, describing the move as illegitimate, unconstitutional, and a betrayal of former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s democratic legacy.

In a detailed statement reported across multiple media platforms, Lubinda said the Patriotic Front remains the only legally registered and nationally structured political organisation capable of representing Lungu’s political vision and the millions of Zambians who supported it.

Lubinda dismissed assertions by Tonse Alliance acting chairperson Professor Dan Pule that an unregistered entity referred to as the “ECL PF Political Movement” constitutes an alternative or contingency platform for the coalition. He said no such arrangement exists in any Patriotic Front central committee resolution, party constitution, or formal public communication issued by Lungu before his death.

“The Patriotic Front is not a personal project that can be replaced at will,” Lubinda said, arguing that the party’s registration with the Electoral Commission of Zambia, nationwide constituency structures, and established membership distinguish it from informal political movements.

He recalled that in 2023, the PF central committee passed a binding resolution endorsing Edgar Lungu as the Tonse Alliance’s presidential candidate, a decision ratified by party delegates across the country. According to Lubinda, that resolution established PF as the anchor party of the alliance rather than a temporary participant.

Lubinda argued that dissolving PF’s role without a comparable democratic process undermines the principles the coalition claims to uphold. He said unity imposed through exclusion amounts to erasure rather than reform.

Reports in the Times of Zambia indicate that Tonse Alliance insiders have justified the decision by pointing to persistent internal divisions within PF following Lungu’s death. These include parallel leadership claims, court disputes over party symbols, and disagreements over candidate selection, which they say have weakened the party’s operational effectiveness.

Supporters of the shift argue that the ECL PF Political Movement, composed of former PF ministers, Members of Parliament, and senior officials loyal to Lungu, offers a more cohesive platform for the 2026 elections.

Lubinda rejected that view, warning that replacing a registered political party with an unregistered structure risks disenfranchising PF’s extensive grassroots base. He said the ECL PF Political Movement has no ECZ registration, no internal elections, and no official candidate lists, raising serious questions about its capacity to contest elections nationally.

He urged PF members to reject what he described as elite-driven political realignment and instead remain committed to the party’s constitutional processes, including planned internal elections.

Lubinda also criticised the Tonse council’s decision to remove a clause that had designated Lungu as the coalition’s 2026 flagbearer, describing the move as a posthumous slight. He maintained that leadership decisions must emerge from PF structures, not from an alliance that now excludes the party.

“If the Patriotic Front has challenges, they must be resolved internally,” Lubinda said. “Abandoning the party and calling it progress is neither democratic nor principled.”

He concluded by asserting that PF’s historical role in national development and opposition politics cannot be transferred to informal movements, insisting that only the registered Patriotic Front can legitimately carry forward Lungu’s political legacy.