Zambia

In a vote that was widely considered free and fair, Zambians elected Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front (PF) as its newest president on September 22, garnering 43 percent of the vote and displacing current president Rupiah Banda of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). The MMD has effectively ruled the country since multi-party elections were first permitted in 1991. Opposition parties have been free to operate since 2001, following ten additional years of de facto one party rule. While opposition candidates have experienced occasional harassment, electoral violence, and disruption of rallies, they have nonetheless mounted increasingly successful nationwide campaigns, none more evident than this year, with the PF sweeping to power in both the parliament and executive office.