A test case for democracy

RE-ELECTION campaigns are not fun for the incumbent. They are worse when the economy is in free fall. And worse still when fought under new constitutional rules yet to be tested. So imagine facing an election with all that, just 18 months after becoming president. That was the awkward fate of Edgar Lungu, Zambia’s president. On August 11th, as The Economist went to press, Zambians were voting on whether to give Mr Lungu, who took office in a by-election last year after the death of his predecessor, another full term.