Zambians voted in a fiercely contested poll between Hichilema and President Edgar Lungu, who’s been in power for about 18 months.
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Lungu was declared victor of the tightly contested election after polling 1,860,877 votes (50.35 percent) from all the 156 constituencies, while his main challenger Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND) polled 1,760,347 votes.
Zambia votes in a presidential election Thursday Aug. 11, 2016, amid widespread concerns about possible political violence as President Lungu faces off against businessman contender Hakainde Hichilema.
Constitutional changes now require the victor to have more than 50% of the vote, and a re-run would be called if there is no clear majority. Hichilema, a close second in that election, called the vote a sham.
“I think the electoral commission is just trying to do a good job”.
“People are giving them the benefit of doubt at this particular time, they have not lost confidence in them yet but yes, there are certain questions being raised about their performance”, he told Reuters.
The election also included a constitutional referendum on amending the bill of rights.
She further said there should be no interruption in the electronic transmission of the election results.
Lungu, who took office in January 2015 after the death of President Michael Sata, won a tight election over Hichilema past year.
Zambia has enjoyed a history of conducting peaceful elections, with its election climate being held up as a model for democracy in Africa.
The electoral chief said most polling stations opened on time because materials were distributed on time, although there were a few polling stations, mostly in western and northwestern Zambia, where voting was delayed due to poor road network.
Hichilema says the president has mismanaged the economy but Lungu, whose government has been negotiating a financial support package with the International Monetary Fund, blames weak growth on plunging commodity prices.
The commission and Lungu’s PF have both rejected the UPND’s charges.
Patriotic Front (PF) Presidential candidate Edgar Lungu and his wife Esther Lungu leave a rally in Lusaka January 19, 2015. “We encourage to continue maintaining that standard”, he said.
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“The question is will the elections be defined as free and fair, transparent and credible in this environment?” he said.
