“The UPND seems to have gained a lot of ground in the ruling party’s strongholds”.
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While Zambians awaited the first election results on Friday, the polls were deemed one of the closest contests in the country’s recent history. A referendum is also on the ballot for amendments to the constitution; Zambians will vote on whether all citizens are to be guaranteed the right to food, shelter, employment and health care; and whether homosexuality and abortion are to be regarded as crimes.
The falling price of copper, the country’s key export, has put the economy “under intense pressure” according to the International Monetary Fund.
Thousands of jobs have been lost in mining, electricity outages have become common and inflation is over 20%.
Voting is due to end at 6 p.m. (1600GMT). Glencore Plc and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. are among global companies with operations in Zambia.
In a statement, the UPND said data from its own parallel counting system showed Hichilema beating Lungu “with a clear margin”, based on about 80 percent of votes counted. “I want to work in a big company and he can bring that here”.
He commended the peaceful demeanour of voters and said participants exercised their freedom to vote without undue restriction and violence around stations. About 6.7 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at almost 7,700 polling stations across the country, which opened from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. “We need a leader who has the welfare of people at heart”, said 37-year-old Ellen Banda. So far, voting has been “calm and peaceful”, according to Zambia’s electoral commission. However, officials were anticipating tension after the close of voting and the final announcement of results: A victor must get more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election.
Hichilema, a businessman and an economist by training, says he is more qualified than Lungu, a former lawyer, to steer the economy out of its slump.
In Mambilima constituency, President Lungu was leading with 8,492 followed by Mr Hichilema with 1,735, Mr Banda of PAC with 136 and Ms. Nawakwi of the FDD with 103 and UNIP with 57, UPP 28, DA 17, Rainbow 9 and the Greens party with 7. He’s pledged to revive growth, promote investment and ensure state funds are better spent. “Ultimately HH will be declared the victor”, the 22-year-old student said. “Three-quarters of my friends aren’t working”. The other guys on the table are people who have been known. His running mate is Geoffrey Mwamba, an ex-defense minister from the north of the country who has helped rally support from the Bemba, the country’s largest ethnic group.
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Lungu insists the economic downturn was beyond his control given Zambia’s heavy reliance on copper exports, but that his government has made strides in commissioning new power plants and investing in diversifying the economy toward sectors like agriculture.
