Zambia flag Zambia: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Zambia

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Hakainde Hichilema (since 24 August 2021)
Vice-President: Mutale Nalumango (since 24 August 2021)
Next Election Dates
General elections: 2026
Main Political Parties
Zambia is a multi-party country. The main political parties are:

- Patriotic Front (PF): centre-left, social democrat
- Party of National Unity and Progress (PNUP): centre-right, liberal
- United Party for National Development (UPND): centre, liberal

Minor parties include the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) and the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD).

Executive Power
The executive is exercised by the President (elected by universal suffrage for a 5-year term, for a maximum of two terms), who is the head of state and the head of government, and also appoints the Cabinet and the Vice-President.
Legislative Power
The legislative power is vested in the Parliament, which has of only one chamber: the National Assembly of Zambia. It is the highest law-making body and it is composed of 167 members (currently 166), of which 156 are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority system, 8 are appointed by the President, and 3 are ex-officio members: the Vice President, the Speaker, and a deputy speaker (with one being elected from outside the National Assembly, while the other is chosen among the elected members of the house). The term for all the members of the National Assembly is 5 years.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
115/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Partly Free
Political Freedom:
4/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: May 2024