British High Commissioner to Zambia Ms Rebecca Terzeon said the opposition in Parliament must be allowed to operate effectively so that it can hold the Executive to account. She also urged that recommendations from election observation missions be taken seriously.
Ms Terzeon was speaking shortly after President Hakainde Hichilema officially opened the First Session of the 14th National Assembly in Lusaka on Friday, 9 October.
Her remarks come as the composition of the new House is being contested. Opposition voices say the governing party’s strength and recent decisions on proportional representation seats have left them with less room in the Chamber.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Ms Saboi Imboela said the current Parliament was basically a one-party state because members of other political parties had been compromised. She said Zambia now has an increased Parliament with a reduced voice, and she called on MPs to speak for the people rather than along partisan lines.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is defending its decision to redistribute proportional representation seats belonging to the opposition National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) to the United Party for National Development (UPND). The Commission says the NRPUP failed to submit a full list of nominees within seven days, as the Electoral Process (Amendment) Act No. 12 of 2026 requires. It has dismissed claims of collusion as untrue and unfounded.
The President, in his address to the House, pledged to protect democratic institutions. “We will continue to protect our democracy, uphold the rule of law, and safeguard the peace and stability that Zambia has worked so hard to preserve,” he said.
He said his administration had worked since 2021 to restore confidence in democratic institutions and strengthen respect for the rule of law. He also warned that no lawlessness would be tolerated regardless of political affiliation.
Ms Terzeon’s reference to observer recommendations connects to a long-standing gap in the country’s electoral reform record. Several international missions, including a European Union mission that deployed 100 observers, monitored the August elections and committed to issuing recommendations for consideration by Zambian authorities once post-election processes conclude.
The opposition has said much of the post-election period remains unresolved. Its leading figures, Mr Brian Mundubile and Mr Makebi Zulu, remain in detention on treason charges, and governance commentators have called for a fuller account of what happened during the polls.
The opposition’s limited footprint in the House is also being contested in the courts. Election petitions in Kwacha, Zambezi East and Zambezi Central are due for judgment in November, with one of them challenging the election of an NRPUP MP.
For now, the British envoy’s message places the health of parliamentary oversight on the table at the start of the new term. Her central point is that an opposition able to scrutinise the Executive’s decisions is part of how democracies function.
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