{"id":71162,"date":"2014-12-04T10:57:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=71162"},"modified":"2014-12-04T10:57:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T10:57:00","slug":"ruling-zambia-leadership-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/12\/ruling-zambia-leadership-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruling on Zambia leadership battle"},"content":{"rendered":"
Zambia’s high court has declared that Defence Minister Edgar Lungu is the governing party’s presidential candidate in next month’s election.<\/p>\n
The Patriotic Front (PF) party has been split over who will succeed President Michael Sata following his death.<\/p>\n
One faction chose Mr Lungu as the party’s candidate while another opted for economist Miles Sampa.<\/p>\n
The split could open the way for the opposition to take power in the elections, analysts say.<\/p>\n
The rival PF factions held separate conferences over the past week to elect a leader and presidential candidate for the 20 January election.<\/p>\n
Mr Lungu’s faction challenged Mr Sampa’s nomination in court.<\/p>\n