Zambia awaits election results

The latest results from Zambia’s electoral commission show opposition leader Michael Sata leading incumbent President Rupiah Banda 43 to 36 percent, with results in from slightly more than half of Zambia’s voting districts.

The count has been slow, and has resulted in Zambians pouring into the streets in the capital city of Lusaka, as well as in a number of mining
towns.

The pro-business President Banda signed an investment deal with China to create an economic partnership zone in 2007, and China is currently the third-largest importer of Zambian products (South Africa and Switzerland are first and second). Zambia is even the first and only African nation where the Bank of China deals in yuan.

Sata, the nationalist candidate has condemned Banda’s China policy. While the president claims that the China deal will create new jobs and pour money into the economy, Sata’s supporters, many of them poor, already feel left out of the deal. Sata’s early lead has been boosted by a strong performance in Zambia’s urban areas, where votes are likely to be counted more quickly. Banda is expected to perform stronger in the countryside.

Sources AP, AFP, Reuters, International Business Times.