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Socialist Party (SP) president, Fred M’membe, says the 2026 General Election will not be ‘free and fair’ because of shrinking democratic space in the country.
M’membe claimed that from the first by-elections the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration conducted in 2021, violence and other malpractices had continued.
The SP leader said this on Wednesday in Lusaka when he hosted a delegation of the European Union (EU) Elections Follow-up Mission which was meeting stakeholders ahead of the 2026 General Election.
He said it was worrying that the institutions of governance such as the Judiciary, Police and the Electoral Commission of Zambia-ECZ, were losing credibility.
“If elections become less and less credible, people will turn to themselves. Elections are not the only way of choosing leaders,” M’membe said.
He noted that people can choose leaders in many other ways if elections lose extreme credibility but that his party sincerely believed that the best way to choose leaders was through elections.
M’membe alleged that President Hakainde Hichilema had been holding meetings and rallies from the time he ascended to power in 2021 while no opposition leaders were allowed to do so.
“You cannot have a situation where opposition political parties cannot even hold the smallest of meetings. And you want them to participate in an election? It’s like in a soccer competition where you do not allow other teams to train but you just want them to come and enter the tournament while the other team is training,” he said.
The SP president observed that the clear path Zambia had taken would lead to serious problems in the 2026 General Election as opposition are not allowed to hold meetings.
“Hichilema is campaigning for 2026 but we are not allowed to do the same,” he said.
M’membe alleged that the UPND had perpetrated violence against the opposition political parties but that they were not allowed to defend themselves.
“Again when all these institutions fail, people will turn to themselves and look at what they can do for themselves. That is not a recipe for good governance and stability. It’s a recipe for instability,” he said.
The opposition SP leader said his party took the European Union Elections Follow-up Mission seriously, saying Zambia and his party in particular was ready to work with the EU to maintain peace.
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