Hamududu says Zambia is becoming a two-party democracy

 BRIEFING | Hamududu says Zambia is becoming a two-party democracy Zambia’s presidential politics is steadily consolidating around two dominant political blocs, according to PNUP president Highvie Hamududu, who says smaller parties should increasingly consider alliances rather than attempting to compete alone. Hamududu, whose Party of National Unity and Progress belongs to the governing UPND […]

 BRIEFING | Hamududu says Zambia is becoming a two-party democracy

Zambia’s presidential politics is steadily consolidating around two dominant political blocs, according to PNUP president Highvie Hamududu, who says smaller parties should increasingly consider alliances rather than attempting to compete alone.

Hamududu, whose Party of National Unity and Progress belongs to the governing UPND Alliance, told ZNBC’s Sunday Interview that voting patterns stretching from the 2015 presidential by-election through the 2026 election point towards an increasingly concentrated contest for State House.

“In the last four elections, Zambia is moving towards a two-party democracy,” Hamududu said, pointing to the repeated UPND-PF contests of 2015, 2016 and 2021.

“There is no need to continue with a multiplicity of political parties. And I think it’s progressive for our democracy to have alliances on the right and left so that people have two choices.”

The 2026 election strengthens part of his argument, although the parties have changed. President Hakainde Hichilema received 2,965,326 votes against Brian Mundubile’s 1,856,217, with the two candidates accounting for more than 98 percent of the presidential vote.

Mundubile’s total was also strikingly close to Edgar Lungu’s 1,870,780 votes in 2021, suggesting much of the old opposition electorate survived even as its political vehicle shifted away from PF.

This makes Zambia less a conventional two-party system than an emerging two-bloc presidential democracy operating inside a multiparty system.

Parties remain numerous and smaller formations can still win parliamentary seats, but the 50-percent-plus-one requirement creates powerful incentives for consolidation. To win State House, a candidate needs more than a party. The candidate needs an electoral coalition broad enough to cross the constitutional threshold.

Hamududu says this arithmetic partly explains PNUP’s decision to remain within the UPND Alliance. He argued that participating inside a governing coalition gives his party greater opportunity to influence policy than remaining outside government solely to provide checks and balances.

The deeper question is whether Zambia’s political parties are beginning to recognise what voters may already have established at presidential level.

Names and vehicles can change, but electoral blocs have proved more durable. For smaller parties, the strategic choice is becoming increasingly stark: build a national bloc, inherit one, break one, or negotiate a place inside one.

– The People’s Brief | Mwape Nthegwa