New opposition party rules out election petition, calls for national healing and promises to keep government in check
LUSAKA, Zambia — The Resolute Party has accepted President Hakainde Hichilema’s re-election and says it will not challenge the presidential result in court, arguing that the country now needs to move on from the election and concentrate on the issues affecting ordinary Zambians.
Party president Martin Phiri said the decision followed a post-election review of the party’s performance and consultations within its structures. 
Phiri said Resolute had concluded that petitioning the presidential election at this stage would not serve the interests of the country.
“We have resolved as a party that petitioning the election at this stage would be counterproductive,” he said.
He congratulated Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) on their victory, while also praising Brian Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, for putting up what he described as a spirited campaign.
The Resolute Party contested the election under the alliance and sponsored Zulu as its running mate, while fielding parliamentary and local government candidates in several parts of the country.
For Phiri, however, the party’s own performance has given it something to celebrate.
He said Resolute, despite being only nine months old, had won five parliamentary seats and produced councillors and chairpersons, giving the party more than 20 elected representatives.
“This is a big milestone for the party, which is just nine months old,” Phiri said.
He said the party would now settle into its role in opposition and use its parliamentary presence to hold the government to account.
“As a party with representation in Parliament, RP will provide robust checks and balances to ensure accountability, transparency and good governance,” he said.
But beyond Parliament, Phiri said Zambia needed something equally important — healing.
He described the election campaign as divisive and said political leaders now had a responsibility to lower the temperature and bring the country together.
“The time has come to unite and move Zambia forward,” he said.
Phiri urged Zambians to give the new government room to work, saying the country could not remain trapped in an election that had already been decided.
He also revealed changes within the party, introducing Howard Timulu as its new Secretary General following his appointment on July 31.
Timulu said he was honoured to join the young party and pledged to help strengthen its role in providing checks and balances.
Meanwhile, Resolute Party parliamentary candidate for Makeni Constituency, Kavimbu Hakachima, said he had personally accepted defeat and would not petition his election.
Hakachima said political office should never become more important than the people politicians seek to serve.
“I participated in the elections and I lost the election. I am not petitioning because I think politics is about serving the people,” he said.
He appealed to Zambians to stop looking at one another through the lens of political parties and instead begin the difficult process of healing after the election.
Hakachima said the country needed to heal not only politically, but also emotionally and mentally.
He also made a passionate appeal against political violence, saying no disagreement over political power should ever cost a Zambian their life.
“No one should die because of politics,” he said.
Hakachima further urged political parties and their supporters to show maturity on social media by refusing to circulate unverified information.
He said losing an election was painful, but accepting defeat was part of democratic politics.
“This was not our time,” he said, urging his supporters to return to the drawing board and prepare for the next electoral contest.
For Hakachima, the real battle facing Zambia now is not between political parties, but against the economic hardships confronting families.
He said people want hospitals stocked with medicines, children in school, food on the table and dependable electricity.
“We need to work hard to ensure that we have medicines in the hospitals, our children go to school, there is food on the table and three meals on the table for every Zambian,” he said.
He called on the opposition to work with the incoming government where necessary so that the country can recover from the tensions that accompanied the elections.
The Resolute Party’s position places it among opposition players choosing to accept the presidential outcome while preparing to scrutinise the government from Parliament and other platforms.
For a party that is barely nine months old, Phiri said the immediate task is now to build on its electoral gains, strengthen its structures and prepare for the road ahead.
The message from the party is clear: the election is over, the result has been accepted, and the focus must now return to the Zambian people.
