State powerRE-ELECTION campaigns are not fun for the incumbent. They are worse when the economy is in free fall. And worse still when fought under new constitutional rules yet to be tested. So imagine facing an election with all that, just 18 months after becoming president. That was the awkward fate of Edgar Lungu, Zambia’s president. On August 11th, as The Economist went to press, Zambians were voting on whether to give Mr Lungu, who took office in a by-election last year after the death of his predecessor, another full term.
The vote, which followed one of the ugliest campaigns in Zambian history, looked to be one of the closest in its history, too. The results, due over the weekend, will go some way towards answering a big question: is Africa getting used to the idea that a well co-ordinated opposition can overcome the power of incumbency?
Historically Zambia is one of Africa’s most stable countries. In 1991 it became only the second country on the continent (months after Benin) to experience the peaceful, democratic removal of an incumbent at the ballot box, when Kenneth Kaunda, who...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2aZjyyV
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