/ 3 October 2006

Zambian president appeals for unity

President Levy Mwanawasa urged his rivals to join him in fighting Zambia’s deep-rooted poverty on Tuesday as he took office for a final term after disputed elections that sparked a wave of opposition riots.

Mwanawasa underscored the need for a united front in reversing the fortunes of one of Africa’s most impoverished countries at a swearing-in ceremony and appealed to his challengers to put Thursday’s vote behind them.

”Let us now work together. Through these elections it is clear that our people have spoken in a voice that can never be ignored,” said Mwanawasa after taking the oath of office at the National Assembly building in Lusaka.

”They want a general improvement of their lives … We have to fight poverty and we have to fight all vices that are affecting our country.”

Zambia’s election commission on Monday night declared the final results from all 150 polling districts, putting Mwanawasa in the lead despite an impressive initial advance by main opposition leader Michael Sata.

Mwanawasa won with a total of 1 177 846 votes, while the Patriotic Front’s Sata garnered 804 748. Hakainde Hichilema, head of a three-party alliance, came in third.

Sata and his party have cried foul, alleging that 400 000 ballots have gone missing. But he has also ruled out challenging the result through the courts while insisting that he will not give up on politics.

His supporters rioted on Sunday and Monday as their leader’s defeat became apparent but there have been no fresh reports of violence since.

The fiery opposition leader, who created controversy in the election run-up by threatening to chuck out foreign traders if voted to power, shunned Tuesday’s swearing-in.

Mwanawasa’s supporters meanwhile carried a coffin at the oath-taking function. A slogan draped over the coffin read: ”Sata has been buried.”

The presidents of Namibia and Tanzania attended the ceremony along with the vice-presidents of Botswana and Zimbabwe.

South African President Thabo Mbeki Tuesday sent a congratulatory message to Mwanawasa in which he urged Zambians to respect the results.

”The South African government appeals to all participants to accept the outcome of this democratic process as a true reflection of the democratic will of the people of Zambia,” Mbeki said.

”The government and people of South Africa join the international community in welcoming the outcome,” he added.

Thursday’s elections also voted in a new Parliament in which Mwanawasa’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) will enjoy a narrow majority.

A total of 72 MMD candidates were elected, but as Mwanawasa can directly appoint another eight deputies, he should have just enough to steer legislation through Parliament without having to rely on independents.

The Patriotic Front won 46 seats, while Hichilema’s United Democratic Alliance will have 27 representatives in the 158-seat chamber.

Mwanawasa only scraped home in 2001 with 28% of votes after an election that also triggered accusations of vote-rigging.

His re-election was due in large part to support in rural areas where his support base held up. Sata, however, dominated in impoverished urban districts, attracting tens of thousands of voters to rallies where he promised to reverse their fortunes with a 90-day blitz of job creation and house construction.

About two-thirds of Zambia’s population live on less than $1 a day, and Mwanawasa admitted during the campaign that he had only ”scratched the surface” in his first five-year term. — Sapa-AFP