Dipak Patel: Difference between revisions

Patel was [[Zambian parliamentary election, 1991|elected in 1991]] to the [[National Assembly of Zambia]] under the [[Movement for Multi-Party Democracy]] (MMD) in the Lusaka Central [[List of Zambian parliamentary constituencies|constituency]]. During this time he was also a member of the MMD's national executive committee. He was appointed Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry from 1991 to 1992, then held a succession of Cabinet Minister positions in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (1992), the Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Child Development (1992–1993), and the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry (1993–1996).<ref name="OECD"/> He was one of two cabinet-level members of Indian origin in [[President of Zambia|President]] [[Frederick Chiluba]]'s government, the other being Minister of Agriculture [[Suresh Desai]].<ref name="MEA">{{citation|publisher=Ministry of External Affairs|publication-place=India|year=2008|ref=CITEREFMEA2008|title=Zambia|url=http://meaindia.nic.in/foreignrelation/20fr01.pdf|series=Foreign Relations Briefs|accessdate=2009-08-21}}</ref> However, he resigned from that last position in February 1996 due to disagreements with Chiluba; specifically, he objected to a proposed constitutional amendment which would bar individuals of "foreign parentage" from contesting the presidency.<ref>{{citation|title=Africa South of the Sahara|chapter=Zambia|page=1145|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-1-85743-131-5|url=http://books.google.com/?id=1KBP7QbalX0C&q=Patel#v=snippet&q=Patel}}</ref> In the [[Zambian parliamentary election, 1996|1996 elections]], he ran without any party affiliation and was returned to his seat representing Lusaka Central; in the [[Zambian parliamentary election, 2001|2001 elections]] he ran on the [[Forum for Democracy and Development]] ticket and was again elected.<ref name="OECD"/>