LUSAKA, Oct 30: Zambians voted for a successor to the late President Levy Mwanawasa on Thursday in an election the main opposition leader accused the ruling party of rigging.

A senior intelligence official said troops would be placed on high alert after the polls close to prevent unrest, although campaigning in the stable and increasingly prosperous southern African nation has been peaceful.

The election has been generally peaceful but there were some instances of voting irregularities, the country’s largest independent election monitoring group said.

The Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) also said there were some issues regarding proper verification and identification of voters.

The winner faces the formidable task of matching Mwanawasa’s strong record of fiscal discipline, praised by Western donors, and of cracking down on corruption. Mwanawasa, who led Zambia out of an economic slump, died from a stroke in August

Acting President Rupiah Banda, a prominent businessman with wide government experience, has campaigned as a steady hand who can keep Mwanawasa’s business-friendly policies going in the world’s 10th largest copper producer.

His main challenger Michael Sata, leader of the opposition Patriotic Front, portrays himself as a champion of the poor.

Sata, voting in the capital Lusaka, reiterated accusations he first made two weeks ago that the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy planned to rig the vote.

“I have never seen this type of panicking and this is because they have rigged the election. They have rigged the election in favour of Rupiah Banda. It is the first time that the army commander who is supposed to protect people is predicting violence,” Sata said.

The army chief said on Wednesday that election-related violence would not be tolerated.

Although the vote is seen as a test of Zambia’s commitment to multi-party democracy, restored in 1990 after 18 years of one-party rule under Kenneth Kaunda, neither Banda nor Sata is expected to reshape the political landscape dramatically.

The results were expected on Friday.—Reuters