Banda rules, Sata feels cheated.

In a snap presidential election on 30 October, Zambia's ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) successfully defended its stay in power after narrowly repelling a fierce opposition challenge. The new president has extended a "hand of friendship" across the political divide. But the main opposition leader, Michael Sata, feels cheated and has dismissed the poll as flawed. Austin Mbewe reports from Lusaka.

I Rupiah Bwezani Banda, having been constitutionally elected to the office of President of the Republic of Zambia do hereby swear that I will ..." With that oath in front of several regional leaders and jubilant party supportets, Banda took over as the coun try's fourth president, succeeding Levy Mwanawasa, who died in August. For the 71-year-old former foreign minister, his election is a huge political comeback for someone who had retired to his farm.

"For Zambia's sake I will look forward, not back. It is not my intention to govern a divided nation," he said during his inauguration, appealling to the victors and the vanquished to unite. In the tightly contested poll, Banda squeezed home with 40% of the vote against his closest rival Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front who garnered 38%. The other two candidates got 19% and 0.76% respectively.

The election was characterised by high levels of apathy, with only 1.79 million of the 3.9 million registered voters casting their ballots, representing a turnout of 45%, down from the 70% recorded in the 2006 general elections. Inadequate time to sensitise voters was cited for the poor turnout.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) failed to produce a fresh voters' roll due to limited time, and used the 2006 roll instead. An NGO dragged the ECZ to court, arguing that by not producing a new voters' roll, it had disenfranchised many. But the court ruled in the ECZ's favour. Some voters were still disenfranchised despite their names being on the roll because their voters' cards were missing at polling centres. In some areas in the west of the country, voting only took place two days after the official polling day, as the ECZ failed to deliver election materials on time. Earlier, the ECZ caused uproar when it printed an extra 600,000 ballot papers for the poll. Opposition parties questioned the rationale of printing ballots far in excess of the number of voters--which they feared would be used to rig the vote.

Foreign observers--whom Sata derided as being "on holiday" for, in his view, their failure to point out flaws--included the African Union and the regional bodies SADC and COMESA, who chorused the "free and fair" mantra. Local monitors largely gave the poll a clean bill of health, with a few exceptions.

The road to this extraordinary election was a tough and acrimonious one. So much happened so fast in so short a time. It was a period in which the country witnessed fast-paced episodes of animated political gamesmanship. The ruling party's suggestion that the country forego the poll in the interest of saving costs and continuity in leadership were flatly rejected by the opposition.

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And the country's two former presidents--Kenneth Kaunda and Frederick Chiluba--failed to resist the temptation of being in the fray. First Kaunda tried but failed to play the role of a political godfather in persuading two opposition parties to combine efforts. He then turned round and backed the ruling party's candidate, who is also his wife's relative. Chiluba, on the other hand, had no kind words for Sata's party which, incidentally, he had cheered for two years ago. Although four candidates entered the race, it became a two-horse affair between Banda, who was seeking his late boss's mantle, and Sata, who was trying for the third time to wrestle power from his former party.

The ruling party

The ruling MMD moaned that if it had not been for the "defective" constitution in place, the party would have automatically continued in power after Mwanawasa's death without an election, as the vice president would have effectively taken over. That may well explain their attempt to persuade the opposition to forego the poll. With that wish not granted, the party called on voters to sympathise with it based on the fact that it was entitled to and "owned" the rest of the five-year mandate it won in 2006. Using the advantage of incumbency, the MMD counted on the economic gains under Mwanawasa and promised to build upon them.

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It also warned voters that it would be perilous to elect the opposition because it would fail to govern the country, given its minority in parliament.

Some opposition parties bought into that thinking and backed the MMD, with their leaders repeating at every rally the inadequate opposition numbers in parliament. But they were condemned as "sell outs" and only fate knows what awaits them should they campaign on a different platform in the 2011 general elections.

In a last minute show of unity, the former first lady, Maureen Mwanawasa, announced her support for Banda despite her earlier position that her late husband had anointed finance minister Ng'andu Magande. Despite this, the party went into the election a divided house, a fact some senior officials publicly acknowledged, although officially the party strongly downplayed that view. As Banda seeks to unite the nation, he will have to start by healing divisions in his own house. Inside the party, the veterans are watching how a newcomer to their ranks will steer the executive ship.

The opposition

The two main opposition parties failed to agree on a pact and their divided vote gifted the MMD with victory. The chief opposition contender, Michael Sata, has been in the political ring long enough to know which punches excite fans. Making grand promises, he used his enormous skill of charming rhetoric to entice the huge crowds that attended his rallies.

Unlike two years ago when he made the costly mistake of restricting his campaign to his strongholds, this time he went to all the nine provinces in a bid to extend his support base and managed to strike a chord in areas where he was previously unknown. Touting himself as a spokesman for the poor, Sata retained the grassroots as his main support base and promised tax cuts, massive social infrastructure, more pay for civil servants and woe to exploitative investors--messages that appealed to his constituency.

Only time will tell whether the country has seen the last of him, but what is known is that he is a tireless fighter and will continue to be a thorn in the flesh of the party in power.

The MMD not only acknowledged that Sata was a formidable challenger but that the issues he raised were important. "He is a seasoned campaigner and I with there were such young men in his party. We will follow up on some of the issues he raised about the poor," said the MMD's spokesperson, Ben Tetamashimba.

Banda, with his vast experience in public office, is seen as a stable hand capable of overseeing a continuation of Mwanawasa's record of achieving consistent economic growth and a crackdown on corruption, as well as increased investment, especially in the mining industry, the country's economic lifeline.

Investors are set to retain confidence in the economy after anxieties over a possible change of leadership and policies. The local currency, kwacha, which took a massive knock in the pre-election period, made a dramatic leap the day after Banda's inauguration, a trend economists interpreted as a sign of confidence in his leadership.

But like his predecessor, Banda is acutely aware that the economic gains have not sunk into the citizens' lives, hence his admission that "too many Zambians ... do not share in the economic prosperity of the country. I cannot promise to solve the problems in just three years but I can lay the foundation for the future," Banda said. The type of foundation he lays will enable his tenure to be judged.