TONSE Alliance, a political grouping of opposition parties that vowed to dislodge the UPND in August has spectalarly crumbled seven months before the general election.
After months of chaos, wrangles and lack of direction, Tonse Alliance caretaker chairman Danny Pule hammered the proverbial final nail in the coffin of the grouping by abruptly announcing the expulsion of the Given Lubinda faction from the alliance this morning.
Barely an hour after the alliance kicked out the former ruling party, Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president Sean Tembo withdrew his party, citing persistent infighting and a lack of coordination among senior members.
The decision to remove PF marks a sharp escalation in tensions within the coalition.
Pule described the PF as a source of confusion and disorganisation, claiming that the party’s participation in alliance meetings had repeatedly ended in quarrels and disagreement.
According to him, PF had effectively never functioned as a true member of the alliance, despite its historical role in bringing late former President Edgar Lungu into the coalition fold.
The Tonse Alliance leadership now rests with Pule as caretaker chairman, FDD leader Chifumu Banda as first vice chairman, KBF as second vice chairman, and Dr. Chris Zumani heading a movement.
According to Pule, the alliance will elect a permanent chairperson and 2026 presidential candidate later this month, with delegates from member parties set to cast their votes.
“There is no PF party in the Tonse alliance any longer. That party of Mr Given Lubinda are is longer part of the Tonse alliance. Whatever they are doing is not the Tonse alliance business,” said Pule.
“The PF party brought confusion and disorganization to the alliance. PF has actually never been a member of the alliance. Every meeting we had with the PF, there were always squabbles.”
And Tembo pointed to ongoing bickering and procrastination among senior members, noting that the lack of unity was eroding public confidence in the alliance.
Meanwhile, the Given Lubinda led PF has rejected the legitimacy of the expulsion, calling it unauthorised and in violation of the alliance constitution.
PF maintains that all decisions regarding constitutional amendments must occur in a duly convened physical meeting, set for 20 January 2026, and warned that any resolutions from the recent meeting should be disregarded.
Party deputy secretary general for politics Miles Sampa said the PF cannot be reduced to a non-entity in an alliance it helped form and sustain.
“Accordingly, any documents, statements, or materials circulating on social media purporting to be resolutions of the Tonse Alliance are hereby disowned in their entirety, are illegal and illegitimate, and must be ignored with the contempt they deserve. For the avoidance of doubt, the status quo within the Tonse Alliance remains unchanged.”
“Consequently, the Tonse Alliance shall soon convene a proper, lawful, and duly constituted meeting, at a date and time to be announced, at which all outstanding matters shall be addressed strictly in accordance with the Alliance Constitution and agreed procedures,” said Sampa.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, January 7, 2025
