Ruling party wins majority in parliament

Zambia's ruling party, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has secured a majority in parliament, following its victory in three of the four by-elections held on Thursday. The crucial by-elections were preceded by sporadic clashes between supporters of the ruling party and the opposition parties. Charles Mwandila, the returning officer of the by-election in the mining town of Mufulira, more than 250 km north of Lusaka in the Copperbelt province, told journalists the elections had been free and fair. On Wednesday this week the small town had been the scene of violent clashes between rival supporters. Michael Sata, the president of the Patriotic Front (PF), which won the sole opposition seat in the Mufulira by-election, described the win as a clear indication that the MMD was losing popularity in the influential and highly political Copperbelt province. "The common sense I get here is that people cannot be fooled anymore and they have refused to go backwards again ... that is why we have been calling for a general election," Sata told IRIN. But the main opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), which fielded candidates unsuccessfully in two constituencies in Western province and a third in North-western province, has rejected the results. UNDP maintained their pre-election stance that the MMD were out to rig the polls and alleged that national identity cards, a requirement for being issued with voter's cards, were issued in a partisan manner. Given Lubinda, a UPND legislator said in a radio interview in Lusaka that the voter registration exercise was flawed from the beginning and was aimed at giving the MMD a built-in advantage. The by-elections were necessary because four seats fell vacant after one parliamentarian died, two crossed the floor and a fourth had his election nullified by the courts. Scores of youths from both the ruling party and the opposition were injured in bloody clashes ahead of the elections, prompting the police to boost their presence in all four constituencies. An opposition legislator was arrested, while another from the MMD was injured and property damage estimated at millions of kwacha was caused. The Zambian parliament has 159 seats, and the MMD will now hold 75, while its closest rival, the UPND, is now down to 41 from 44.