Chewe did not stand for re-election in the 2001 general elections and subsequently joined the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). He was expelled from the party in 2005, but readmitted in 2006. Later in the year he was the MMD candidate in Munali in the 2006 general elections. However, he was beaten by Chilufya Mumbi of the Patriotic Front. Chewe later switched his support to the Patrtiotic Front, campaigning for Edgar Lungu in the 2015 presidential elections.