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.
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UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has taken a comfortable lead in the presidential race from the eight constituencies that have so far being released by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
Early results are expected late on Friday or Saturday, with the complete results due out by Sunday. However, officials anticipate tension after the close of voting and the final announcement of results: A victor must win more than 50 per cent to avoid a runoff election.
Lungu narrowly beat Hichilema in a vote 20 months ago to fill the vacancy created by the death of president Michael Sata, and could be forced into a second-round rerun if he fails to win an outright majority this time.
Mr Hichilema, a close second, alleged there were voting irregularities.
“I do not think that either of you will want to go on record as having been the two political parties who contributed to permanently denting Zambia’s record of peaceful elections”, he said.
Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) was hit by splits and defections to Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND) ahead of the vote.
Electoral commission chief Esau Chulu described Hichilema’s allegations as “regrettable”.
Last month the commission suspended campaigns in Lusaka and Namwala districts for 10 days because of violence. Zambia, once one of Africa’s fastest growing economies thanks to Chinese demand for its copper, is now facing rising unemployment, electricity shortages, and soaring costs of living.
This year’s elections were characterised by pre-election violence, where there has been fighting between the ruling PF and the main opposition, the UPND.
Zambia, in contrast to neighbours like Angola and Zimbabwe, has escaped war and serious upheaval in recent decades.
Sata died of an undisclosed illness in 2014 and the 2015 election gave Lungu, 59, the right to finish Sata’s term.
The PF’s internal polls show Lungu winning 58 percent of the vote in the first round, his spokesman and adviser, Amos Chanda, said in an interview on Wednesday.
“I will be back home waiting for the results to be announced peacefully”.
The former Nigeria President has been out monitoring the elections as polling stations open in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital on Thursday morning.
Voting got off to a slow start in some places but long queues built up during the day to cast ballots in presidential, parliamentary and local elections.
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“Prospects of violence after the election and during the run-off can not be ruled out”. They also voted in a referendum to introduce a new bill of rights, which proposes raising the minimum age at which people may marry and giving the public greater access to state information.
