A major split in Zambia's ruling Patriotic Front (PF) has
seen two factions select rival candidates for presidential elections next
month, raising the possibility that the opposition could snatch victory.
A faction loyal to acting president Guy Scott chose late
president Michael Sata's nephew Miles Sampa as its candidate on Monday night, a
day after Defence Minister Edgar Lungu was named by a breakaway group.
"The PF in its current form is a weak ruling party and
there is a possibility that it can lose the elections," political analyst
Neo Simutanyi told the AFP news agency.
The simmering split deepened after Sata's death in October,
when Vice President Scott took over as interim president and sacked Lungu as
secretary-general of the party - before reversing the decision after riots
broke out.
Political bickering
"Dr Scott hates me for one reason or another,"
Lungu told supporters after claiming the presidential candidacy for the party
faction. "It's like Dr Scott wants the party to die."
Scott - Africa's first white leader in 20 years - told
delegates at a party conference to ignore Lungu's claim to the presidential
candidacy, and Sampa was elected over four other candidates including Sata's
widow Christine.
Born in Zambia to a Scottish father and an English mother,
Scott is barred by the constitution from running for president.
"The problems in PF cannot be resolved through
reconciliation but one group should leave," political analyst Simutanyi
said. "As things stand, the opposition has a better chance of
winning."
Serious opposition contenders to lead the copper-rich nation
would be United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema
and former president Rupiah Banda of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy.
Source: AFP
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