Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa: «A significant improvement.»

© Michael Gross / US govt / afrol News

afrol News, 2 October - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has secured his re-election after a polarised battle against opposition challenger Michael Sata. While the opposition candidate - a staunch fan of Mugabe's Zimbabwe - has recognised his defeat, he nevertheless claims the vote was "stolen". Mr Sata's followers reacted to the defeat with rioting and looting this night.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has confirmed the re-election of President Mwanawasa for a second five-year term in Lusaka Statehouse. The incumbent gained 42 percent of the vote as all the ballot papers had been counted by the ECZ this evening. Zambian law only provides for one poll round, meaning President Mwanawasa will be sworn into his second term in a ceremony already tomorrow.

His main challenger, Mr Sata of the Patriotic Front (PF) party, managed to gather 29 percent of the votes - less than opinion polls had suggested in advance. A third candidate, Hakainde Hichilema, surprisingly won 25 percent of the votes, thus being able to collect many of the protest votes Mr Sata had hoped to win.

The election campaign had polarised Zambians, with President Mwanawasa trying to take credit of the modest economic gains the country has experienced during the last five years, while Mr Sata tried to cash in on the many unsatisfied workers and poor, who have noticed little progress during the last decades. Mr Sata promised voters to cut taxes drastically, go after foreign investors exploiting Zambian workers and increase social spending.

The main challenger during his campaign stood out as too radical and populist for a majority of Zambians, many doubting his democratic instincts. Praising the regime of Robert Mugabe in speeches, he claimed neighbouring Zimbabweans were enjoying progress. His verbal attacks on 'The Post', Zambia's leading independent newspaper - which lead to physical attacks on the media by his follower - further cast doubts over his willingness to play by democratic rules.

Answering to claims that his economic policies would scare of investors and create inflation, Mr Sata held people could "not eat inflation". Followers however pointed to the fact that Zambian governments so far have failed to successfully address rampant poverty in the country.

While Mr Sata and his campaigners were given a wide playing field to express their disgust with President Mwanawasa, limits were however reached yesterday night, when PF supporters reacted with anger to the first poll results, indicating a victory for the incumbent. Rioting PF supporters in Lusaka and the Copperbelt region took to the streets, destroying several central neighbourhoods and looting shops. Only armed police action brought an end to the upheaval.

Speaking to his followers today, Mr Sata nevertheless ordered them to stop the violent protests and stay calm. The presidential challenger admitted victory for President Mwanawasa, but claimed this had only happened because the vote was "stolen". He provided no proof for his allegations of poll rigging.

International election observers seem to totally disagree with Mr Sata when assessing the Zambian poll. According to the Commonwealth observer mission, there had been no serious irregularities during the elections, which represented "a significant improvement on the 2001 polls." A larger mission from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) also described the elections as free, fair, peaceful and well-managed.

Both observer missions reacted to lesser "logistical problems" when it came to distributing voting materials to remote polling stations, but the situations had always been handled with "commitment and professionalism." The Commonwealth mission only complained about the unfair bias in favour of the ruling party by the state-owned broadcaster ZNBC in its news reportage of the campaign.

Complaints against Mr Sata and his followers were however stronger by Zambian media organisations. The PF leader was accused of "hate speech" against 'The Post' and its editor, which had lead his followers to stage attacks on the Lusaka daily. 'The Post' this weekend had a front page article, based on its own polls, saying that President Mwanawasa was "headed for victory." They were the first to report the news.

By staff writers

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories