Sata wins Zambia 2011 presidential election

The leader of the Zambian opposition party the Patriotic Front, Michael Chilufya Sata, has won the Sept. 20 presidential race in the southern African country, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) announced early Friday morning. According to the ECZ, Sata garnered 1,150,045 votes, or 43 percent of the vote, while the leader of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) and incumbent President Rupiah Bwezani Banda got 961,796 votes, or 36.1 percent of the vote. The votes have not yet been counted in seven of the country's 150 constituencies, but they won't alter the final outcome, the ECZ said. There were several disruptive events such as riots and hacking attacks before the results were announced, making supporters of both presidential hopefuls anxious at the slow pace of the count. The ECZ website was hacked, and a false result showing a landslide win for Sata was posted, and two were killed in protests organized by Sata's supporters. Though already 74, Sata is regarded as a champion of young people and the unemployed. It is believed that his critical stance toward the unfair distribution of the country's wealth has increased his popularity. Sata also vowed to resume the 25 percent windfall tax on mining corporations that Banda abolished two years ago. This worried the country's copper industry, which relies heavily on foreign investment and has largely contributed to the country's booming economy in recent years. This was Sata's fourth bid for the presidential seat, and his party, the Patriotic Front, has now become the third ruling party since Zambia's independence in 1964.