Lusaka - Zambia's parliament voted on
Tuesday to extend the state of emergency by three months, the
presidency office said, as tensions rose following the arrest of
the main opposition leader.
Africa's second-largest copper producer, is usually seen as
one of the continent's more stable democracies. But it has been
on a political knife-edge since the detention in April on
treason charges of Hakainde Hichilema, who narrowly lost to
President Edgar Lungu in a bruising election last year.
Lungu invoked the emergency powers last week to deal with
"acts of sabotage" by his political opponents, after fire gutted
the country's biggest marketplace.
On Tuesday, Zambian lawmakers voted to extend the state of
emergency by another 90 days to give law enforcement agencies
"enhanced measures" to curb "rising cases of politically
motivated fires and vandalism of vital electricity supply
lines".
"The measures ... were deemed necessary to restore public
order," Lungu's aide, Amos Chanda, said in a statement.
Chanda said civil liberties such as free movement had not
been suspended and businesses would be allowed to operate as
normal.
Lungu's move last week to impose emergency laws came within
a day of the fire that destroyed part of City Market in the
capital Lusaka.
Nobody was killed or injured in the blaze, which the
president said "bordered on economic sabotage" and was aimed at
making the country ungovernable.
Police have said some people also planned to vandalise
installations including bridges and power stations.
They said one person was taken into custody for trying to
torch a bus station and they were seeking others who vandalised
electricity transmission lines near the capital last month.
Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National
Development, was arrested in April at his home and accused of
trying to overthrow the government.
An economist and businessman widely known by his initials
"HH", Hichilema was defeated last August by Lungu in an election
the opposition politician denounced as fraudulent. His attempts
to mount a legal challenge have been unsuccessful.