Banda favourite for top job

2008-10-02 19:26

Lusaka - With a month to go before the vote, three politicians lead the race to replace the Zambian president who died.

The front-runner is Rupiah Banda, who was vice president to the late President Levy Mwanawasa and has been acting chief executive since Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in June. Mwanawasa died on August 19 and Banda announced in September that the vote would be on October 30.

Banda was expected to benefit from a sympathy vote from many Zambians who are grieving for Mwanawasa.

Mwanawasa, Zambia's third president since its 1964 independence from Britain, had won praise from some Zambians and many Western investors and donors for free-market policies and a high-profile anti-graft campaign. His corruption efforts had targeted his predecessor and former mentor, Frederick Chiluba.

Mwanawasa also had won praise for breaking African leaders' tradition of silence and solidarity to denounce neighbouring Zimbabwe's economic ruin.

Banda's main rival is...

Banda is an economist who first gained prominence serving in various Cabinet posts under the founding president, Kenneth Kaunda.

Michael Sata, of the main opposition Patriotic Front, is considered Banda's main rival. Sata had nearly beat Mwanawasa in 2006 elections, but now some former allies are campaigning against him, accusing him of stifling dissent within his party.

The third main candidate is Hakainde Hichilema, who leads Zambia's second biggest opposition party. But his power base is seen as limited to the Southern Province, his home area.

Also running is Godfrey Miyanda, a retired army general who served former president Chiluba as vice president. Miyanda barely managed to compile the signatures of 200 registered voters on a petition supporting his candidacy, and no members of his Heritage Party hold Parliament seats.

All four candidates campaigned in Lusaka, the capital, on Wednesday.

- AP