THREATS AND MOTIVES
How Zambia's Edgar Lungu justifies increasingly authoritarian moves
If the Zambian president’s expressed intention to declare a state of emergency is carried out, it will consolidate his power, critics warn, as fears mount that he will target members of the opposition
A day after Zambia’s biggest market, Lusaka City, was destroyed by fire, President Edgar Lungu signalled his intention to declare a state of emergency in the landlocked country. "I didn’t say the country is no longer safe. I said it is sliding into a worrisome state that might lead me to declare a state of emergency," Lungu said at a State House press conference last week. The latest move comes after Lungu’s government suspended 48 opposition party members from parliament in June, and as opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema faces treason charges. It raises fears inside and outside the country about the erosion of its democracy. Lungu has justified his statement by saying it was a response to the fires — suspected arson — as well as sabotage of economic infrastructure, which he says is a "deliberate strategy by the opposition to drive us to the negotiating table". Four markets have been gutted, leading to the loss of goods worth millions of kwacha. One local court, as well as distric...
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