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Zambia is to hold a by-election before the 90-day period that began last Tuesday to pick a state president to replace late President Mwanawasa.
And the British government says it will discuss with other cooperating partners the possibility of funding this presidential by-election.
Outgoing British High Commissioner to Zambia, Alistair Harrison, said his government would consider rendering additional assistance towards the presidential by-election.
"We will be discussing with other partners on how we can help Zambia in holding the elections," Mr. Harrison is quoted by the Times of Zambia.
Opposition United Party for National Development says it will field its leader, Hakainde Hichilema, in the by-election in a move that is meant to forestall strong speculation that Hichilema might give way to Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front to contest the by-election on behalf of the two parties.
But most Zambians are particularly interested in the goings-on in the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) which has found itself in the unenviable position of having to go into the by-election without a president or a vice-president.
At the last MMD convention Mwanawasa had postponed election for the post of vice -president after seeing the intensity with which contestants went for the post and the amounts of money which they dished out to party cadres to induce them to vote for them.
The result was that at the time of his death there was no vice-president in the party while in government he had a man who was without a post in the MMD hierarchy.
To this end the MMD party has relaxed rules governing aspirants for the vacant position of state president by announcing that any ordinary member can apply to stand for the post on the MMD ticket before 26 August.
Benny Tetamashimba, the MMD spokesperson, said on Saturday that the party's national executive committee would sit on 5 September to pick a candidate to contest the state presidency on the party ticket.
"Many people have already indicated their willingness to contest the presidency on the MMD ticket. But ideally what we would have liked is to see Vice-president (Rupiah) Banda finish off Levy (Mwanawasa's) term of office and then the others can be free to contest the full election that will come in 2011," Tetamashimba said.
But it is not only the parties that are anxious about the by-election.
The government is anxious to move things forward and on Thursday Banda swore-in highly respected Judge Florence Mumba as new chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia ahead of the by-election.
Mumba only returned to Zambia earlier this year from The Hague where she had served for many years on the United Nations panel of judges.
"The people of Zambia cherish their freedom and they need fair elections. As you know we are going to go into elections within the next 90 days and we are looking forward to you providing leadership during this period," Banda told the Judge
Mumba, who on her return had been assigned to serve as a Lusaka High Court judge.
Justice minister, George Kunda, heightened expectations last Wednesday when he assured Zambians that the presidential by-election to pick a successor for late President Mwanawasa would be held within 90 days in compliance with constitutional provisions.
"This is a government of laws and not of men, and one which believes strongly in constitutionalism. We will follow all legal and constitutional provisions to ensure that elections are held within 90 days, as the law says," Kunda declared.
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