Lusaka, Zambia — Levy Mwanawasa was sworn in as Zambia's president Wednesday and said he wouldn't tolerate more violence over the contested election that brought him to power.
Mwanawasa, 53, the hand-picked successor of outgoing President Frederick Chiluba, took the oath of office after a court rejected an appeal by seven opposition parties to delay the inauguration until after an investigation of alleged election rigging by the ruling party.
"Now that I've been sworn in as president ... I will defend the constitution and assure the vote is applied," Mwanawasa said at the inauguration ceremony patrolled by some 1,000 police. "If this nonsense will not stop now and continues, then I'm not the president."
Leading opposition contender Anderson Mazoka has challenged the vote and declared himself president. His supporters threatened more street protests. On Tuesday, demonstrators stormed the High Court building and were dispersed by police firing tear gas.
Zambia's election commission said that with all but two of 150 voting districts reporting, Mwanawasa led Mazoka by 34,777 votes, with 15,000 votes to be counted. National and local election observers noted some irregularities in the Dec. 27 voting, but the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy and the electoral commission denied the outcome was rigged.
An unprecedented 11 candidates competed for the presidency, and some disappointed voters blamed the opposition for failing to unify against the ruling party. About 70 percent of the popular vote went to opposition candidates. The large number of parties in parliament could lead to Zambia's first coalition government.
Mwanawasa, a respected lawyer and former vice president, becomes Zambia's third president since it won independence from Britain in 1964.
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