PF Expels MPs Over Bill 7 Vote as Leadership Dispute Complicates Enforcement

The Patriotic Front (PF) has announced the expulsion of all its Members of Parliament who voted in favour of Constitution Amendment Bill No. 7, citing defiance of party instructions and what it describes as a betrayal of the Zambian people.

The decision was announced on Thursday by PF Acting President Given Lubinda during a media briefing in Lusaka, shortly after President Hakainde Hichilema assented to the bill.

Lubinda stated that the party had issued a three-line whip directing all PF MPs to vote against Bill 7 and to ensure that a “No” vote was formally recorded during proceedings in the National Assembly. He said the directive was clear, lawful, and communicated repeatedly to members of parliament.

According to Lubinda, PF leadership held at least eight engagement meetings with its MPs ahead of the vote. He added that the party’s national chairperson, Jean Kapata, publicly reiterated the directive during a press briefing on the eve of the vote, which was broadcast live and reported in the print media.

“No member of parliament can claim not to have heard the directive,” Lubinda said.

Constitutional Court ruling cited

Lubinda anchored the expulsions on the Constitutional Court ruling in Celestine Mukandila and Monia Zulu v Attorney General (Case No. 2025-CCZ-009), which found that the government’s initiation of the constitutional amendment process was inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution.

He said the court ruled that beginning the amendment process without wide public consultation violated several constitutional provisions, including Articles 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 61, 90, 91 and 92.

Lubinda stated that the court guided that any constitutional amendment process must be people-driven, led by an independent body of experts, and grounded in broad and meaningful consultations with citizens.
Despite that guidance, he said Parliament proceeded with Bill 7, which was later passed and assented to.

Division list dispute

Lubinda also criticised the National Assembly for failing to release the official division list showing how MPs voted on Bill 7, four days after the vote.

He said parliamentary practice requires the division list to be published within 24 hours, arguing that the delay undermines accountability and transparency.

“Members of parliament are accountable to the electorate, and the electorate has a right to know how their representatives voted,” Lubinda said.

He called on Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti to immediately release the division list, stating that parliamentary proceedings are public and that voting records cannot be lawfully concealed.

Lubinda added that the PF already knows which of its MPs were present in the chamber and how they voted, regardless of the delayed publication of the official record.

Immediate expulsions announced

Lubinda announced that all PF MPs who voted in favour of Bill 7 had been expelled from the party with immediate effect.

“This decision is final and irreversible,” he said.

He added that all PF structures across the country had been directed to take formal notice of the changed status of the affected MPs.

Lubinda said MPs who absented themselves from the vote were not automatically considered to have endorsed the bill, stating that the party hoped those decisions were made in good faith and in line with the will of the electorate.

Enforcement tied to recognised leadership

However, the practical enforcement of the expulsions remains uncertain due to unresolved questions surrounding the recognised leadership of the Patriotic Front.

Under parliamentary practice, the Speaker of the National Assembly acts on formal communication from the legally recognised leadership of a political party when considering matters such as loss of party membership and the status of MPs.

In the PF’s case, the leadership dispute centres on the party presidency, with Chabinga currently holding himself out as party president without having been elected through a national convention, the traditional mechanism for leadership selection under PF structures.

As a result, any communication to the Speaker regarding expulsions may be contested unless it is issued by leadership that is formally recognised in law.

This situation places the expulsions within a broader legal and institutional dispute, rather than a straightforward parliamentary process.

Political position maintained

Lubinda said the PF was prepared to proceed politically regardless of the consequences, stating that the party would rather operate without MPs it considers to have acted against the people’s will.

He instructed party structures to begin identifying potential candidates to stand on the PF ticket in the 2026 general elections.

He also called on opposition political parties to remain united in defending constitutionalism and the rule of law.

While the Patriotic Front has asserted its political position by expelling MPs who supported Bill 7, the effectiveness of that decision ultimately turns on the unresolved question of party ownership and lawful leadership. With the PF presidency itself under dispute and the courts yet to conclusively determine who holds legitimate authority over the party, the expulsions remain politically significant but legally contested. Until the judiciary settles the question of who rightfully controls the Patriotic Front, actions taken in the party’s name are likely to continue facing institutional and legal uncertainty.

Hichilema signs Constitution Amendment No. 7 and tells Zambians to end the quarrel

LUSAKA, Zambia, December 18, 2025

President Hakainde Hichilema on Thursday assented to Constitution Amendment Bill No. 7 of 2025 and urged Zambians to treat the national argument around the measure as settled, shifting attention to electricity supply, decentralised development and economic production.

“After signing, now that is law, I declare that the debate is now behind us,” the President told the ceremony.

A central thread of the address was an insistence that the reform should not be framed as a victory for one party, one leader, one ethnic group or one church. “It’s for the totality of Zambian citizens,” he said, after listing several ethnic identities to emphasise that the moment was national rather than sectional.

He returned repeatedly to that same point, describing the process as belonging to “all the Zambian citizens,” and warning against reading the amendment through partisan lenses.

The speech also pushed back against claims that had circulated during the debate. The President dismissed assertions that Bill 7 included an attempt to extend the presidential term to seven years, remove the 50 percent plus one requirement, or eliminate the running mate arrangement.

“There was nothing in here of that nature,” he said on the term extension claim. On the other allegations, the message was similar, describing them as angles used to scare or divide citizens rather than reflect the content of the amendment.

Instead, the President framed the intent as tackling “non contentious issues” and adding representation for groups he described as under represented in decision making, including women, young people and persons living with disabilities. The argument was presented as additive rather than subtractive, with an emphasis on inclusion.

A notable portion of the address focused on the tone of the national dispute. The President described the argument as intense and wide, including sharp exchanges, then urged a reset.

“My call to the country, now that we’re here, is that we reflect on how we debated,” he said, asking whether citizens had been civil and truthful, and cautioning that debate should not turn into hatred or enmity. A religious illustration followed, drawing on a Biblical teaching about reconciliation before offering at the altar, to reinforce peace making as a national value after a polarising discussion.

On process, the President stated that assent should have happened earlier, around August, but was delayed to allow wider consultations. He credited the Mushabati Technical Committee for completing work within two months and described its contribution as strengthening the final outcome. He rejected claims that the committee was unlawful, presenting it as constituted under the country’s legal framework.

One concrete example used to show “give and take” involved by elections. The President disclosed a preference for removing by elections between general elections to reduce costs and focus on development, then described conceding after the committee and other Zambians maintained that by elections should remain.

That account was followed by a recap of parliamentary votes, presented as cross party. The President referenced the two thirds threshold for constitutional change, then described votes that moved the bill through readings, culminating in what was described as 135 Members of Parliament voting in favour.

From there, the address pivoted to decentralisation and development. A story from a chiefdom visit was used to argue that community level control can reduce project costs and expand delivery. In that example, a school previously costing about K2 million was described as being delivered at about K500,000, allowing more classrooms to be built with the same envelope.

“Why would you be against taking money to the communities instead of Lusaka deciding everything?” the President asked, tying the point to delimitation and an increase in constituencies, which was presented as a pathway to broader distribution of resources.

Electricity dominated the closing sections. The President described citizens’ demands for power to support small businesses and for health centres to function, including the survival needs of children on oxygen. The power crisis was attributed to drought, described as the worst in living memory, and the response was framed as diversifying generation sources, with solar and coal both mentioned.

Specific projects cited included Mamba Phase 2 and the Chisamba development, with remarks that Chisamba Phase 1 was completed and Phase 2 was under construction. The President also referred to unlocking transmission capacity through engagement with Zimbabwe, suggesting that the public had already begun to feel an improvement.

A broader economic sweep followed, citing debt restructuring, recovery in mining, tourism growth “from 500 arrivals in 2021 to 2.5 million tourists arriving this year,” and foreign reserves reaching an all time high. The address also referenced fertilizer self sufficiency and factory plans for domestic medicine production, framed as part of a shift toward production rather than consumption.

The President closed with unity language and a work ethic appeal, calling for “unity” and urging citizens to advance love over hatred. A final integrity pledge came in blunt terms: “There will be no cheating,” followed by a rejection of theft or deliberate wrongdoing, and an assurance that mistakes would be met with correction rather than deception.

“With teamwork, unity of purpose, teamwork, hard work, respect for each other, we’ll be OK,” he said, ending with a blessing for Zambia and thanks to the audience.