The Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) is a political party in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

History

The FDD was founded in 2001 by former members of the

Movement for Multi-Party Democracy The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) also known as New Hope MMD is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past lead ...

(MMD), disaffected by

Frederick Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as th ...

's efforts to change the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term. In the 2001 general elections it nominated

Christon Tembo Lt. Gen. Christon Tembo (24 May 1944 – 6 March 2009) was a Zambian politician and army commander. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and the sixth vice-president of Zambia from 1997 to 2001. He ran for president in the Decem ...

as its presidential candidate; Tembo finished third in a field of eleven candidates with 13% of the vote. In the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

elections the party received 16% of the vote, winning 12 seats. Three FDD politicians were later invited by President

Levy Mwanawasa Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corrupti ...

to serve in a 'unity cabinet', and they were expelled from the party for accepting the invitation. In 2005 the FDD chose Edith Nawakwi, a former MMD minister, as its president. However, in 2006 the government de-registered the FDD on the grounds that it had failed to submit an annual report. The FDD subsequently joined the United Democratic Alliance, which put forward

United Party for National Development The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a political party in Zambia, founded in December 1998 by Anderson Mazoka, a former executive of the Anglo American Corporation. The party emerged as a significant opposition force following a ...

leader Hakainde Hichilema as its presidential candidate for the 2006 general elections. Hilchema finished third with 25% of the vote, whilst the UDA won 24 seats in the National Assembly, down from the combined 74 the alliance's member parties had won in 2001. The FDD did not nominate a candidate for the 2008 presidential by-election, but put forward Nawakwi for the 2011 general elections. She received 0.2% of the vote, finishing seventh out of the nine candidates. The party won a single seat in the National Assembly, Chifumu Banda in Chasefu. Nawakwi ran for the presidency again in the 2015 presidential by-election, finishing third with 0.9% of the vote. From 2016 to 2021, the FDD held one seat in the

, in

Chiengi Chiengi or is a historic colonial boma of the British Empire in central Africa and today is a settlement in the Luapula Province of Zambia, and headquarters of Chiengi District. Chiengi is in the north-east corner of Lake Mweru, and at the foo ...

. The party did not win any seats in the 2021 general election. In January 2025, the FDD decided to join the Tonse Alliance, an alliance of political parties.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

{{Zambian political parties 2001 establishments in Zambia Political parties established in 2001 Political parties in Zambia Social democratic parties in Zambia