Lusaka - A new opinion poll has placed Zambia's main opposition challenger Michael Sata ahead of President Levy Mwanawasa in the run-up to a September 28 presidential election.
The University of Zambia poll echoed findings by a similar poll released last week.
Sata has emerged as the main challenger to Mwanawasa followed by wealthy Lusaka businessman Hakainde Hichilema, who is contesting the vote on the ticket of three main political parties under the umbrella United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
"The (poll) shows that if elections were held now, at a voter turn-out of 75 percent countrywide, Michael C. Sata would win by 52 percent, followed by Levy Mwanawasa at 27 percent and Hakainde Hichilema at 20 percent," the pollsters said in a statement.
They said they captured 3 800 voters in all nine Zambia provinces and that only 200 voters said they had yet to pick a preferred candidate.
Mwanawasa questioned the results of the survey, saying Sata had fielded only 102 out of 150 parliamentary candidates.
"They are giving Sata 52 percent (when) he has fielded only 102 parliamentary candidates (and) so that is already 30 percent gone," he was quoted as saying by the Zambia Daily Mail.
Mwanawasa said opinion polls should be stopped because they were "interfering with democracy and confusing people".
A poll by research group Steadman Group Zambia Ltd. showed last week that Mwanawasa's popularity had dropped to 33 percent from 45 percent in an August poll conducted by another body.
Sata's rating had risen to 24 percent from the 15 percent he received in the earlier poll, while Hichilema garnered 15 percent.