Zambian cabinet takes 'odd step'
2008-07-10 14:25
Lusaka - The defence minister says the Zambian Cabinet has taken the unusual step of meeting without the country's ailing president.
President Levy Mwanawasa collapsed at an African Union summit in Egypt on June 29. He had been hospitalised in France.
Defence Minister George Mpombo said at a prayer meeting on Wednesday that vice-president Rupiah Banda had been chairing Cabinet meetings.
Top leaders had been reluctant to formally declare Mwanawasa incapable of performing his duties.
If the president's office was formally declared vacant, Banda would govern until a new president was elected. The vote would have to be held within 90 days.
- AP