Updated

Zambia's interim president has announced elections will be held on Jan. 20 to choose a successor to President Michael Sata who died last month.

Guy Scott said the election is according to the southern African nation's constitution, which calls for polls within 90 days of a president's death.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Edgar Lungu announced his candidacy for the ruling party, the Patriotic Front.

Riots broke out earlier this month when Scott fired Lungu. The riots stopped when Lungu was reinstated.

Mulenga Sata, the son of the late president and mayor of the capital, Lusaka, has also announced his candidacy.

Former vice president Scott cannot run for president because his parents were not Zambian by birth or descent.