Efter 20 års styre må det regerende parti se sin præsidentkandidat tabe klart, selv om partiet havde flere penge til rådighed end nogensinde; formentlig kom en del fra store kinesiske foretagender, som er aktive over alt i det sydafrikanske kobberland – og bestemt ikke bryder sig om vinderen
Opposition leader Michael Sata has won Zambia’s presidential election after two days of vote counting following a tight race with incumbent President Rupiah Banda, BBC online reports Friday.
Mr Sata was declared winner after polling 43 per cent of the vote with just seven constituencies left to be counted. Eight contenders competed for the post.
Mr Banda’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has ruled Zambia for 20 years and this was the fourth time Patriotic Front (PF) leader and now 74-year-old Mr Sata had run for the presidency.
He lost the last election, in 2008, by just 35.000 votes. Known as “King Cobra” for his venomous tongue, foreign mining firms – often from China – have frequently been the target of Mr Satas criticism about labour conditions.
While the party has disputed media reports it is anti-Chinese, it is likely to shake up the way contracts are awarded.
There were suggestions big Chinese firms were bankrolling Mr Banda’s re-election bid in the run-up to the poll, with PF candidates expressing surprise at the amount of funds available to the MMD.
Meanwhile, international election observers criticised the MMD for abusing (misbruge) state resources during its campaign and noted serious media bias on the part of the state broadcaster.
However, the PF’s promises of more jobs and better education appear to have won over the electorate.
KINA i ZAMBIA
Although China’s relationship with Zambia dates back to the building of the Zambia to Tanzania Railway in the 1970s, it is in the last 10 years that Sino-Zambian trade has really taken off, growing from just 100 million US dollar in 2000 to 2,8 billion last year.
China’s main area of interest is mining, having bought up cheaply a number of copper, cobalt and nickel mines, which had been mothballed (lagt i mølpose) by Western investors when commodity prices fell.
Beyond mining and manufacturing, there is growing Chinese presence within Zambia’s retail sector, from imported textiles and electronics, to chickens farmed locally and sold in city markets.
The country is also home to two of China’s six African Special Economic Zones (SEZs). These are designated geographic areas with liberal policies and tax incentives to attract foreign companies.
Although there have been repeated allegations – and in some cases hard evidence – of poor labour conditions and low salaries in Chinese-run mines and factories, Mr Bandas government has been happy with its new friend because the investment has driven economic growth to almost unprecedented levels, BBC notes.
