Mr. Lungu of the Patriotic Front (PF) secured 50.35% of the votes totaling 1,860,877 votes, while Mr. Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND) received 47.67% of the votes, totaling 1,760,347 votes
Zambia’s president Edgar Lungu has been re-elected after the conclusion of Thursday's general election, according to the official results made public on Monday. However, the official results are being challenged by the opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who has alleged electoral fraud.
The electoral commission requires the winner to have more than 50% of the votes to avoid a runoff election. Mr. Lungu of the Patriotic Front (PF) secured 50.35% of the votes totaling 1,860,877 votes, while Mr. Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND) received 47.67% of the votes, totaling 1,760,347 votes.
The main opposition party, UPND, has alleged that the electoral commission worked in conjunction with the ruling party to rig the elections in favor of Mr. Lungu.
“We have evidence to the effect that the votes for Hakainde Hichilema have been deliberately reduced in collusion with the electoral commission of Zambia,” said Jack Mwiimbu, the UPND’s lawyer.
“We have confidence that the constitutional court will rise above the board and declare the results a nullity,” the lawyer added.
Meanwhile, the PF has rejected the allegations.
These elections were, in a sense, a rerun of last year’s elections as Mr. Lungu took office in January last year after a keenly contested election against Mr. Hichilema. The election was held because the former president Michael Sata had died in office - the second time that a Zambian president had died in office in the last five years.
In that election, Mr. Lungu defeated Mr. Hichilema by fewer than 28,000 votes. In the general elections on Thursday, however, the margin of victory was about 200,000 votes.
Mr. Mwiimbu had earlier expressed doubts that the polls would be credible given the fact that the ballot papers, which had always been printed in South Africa, were printed in Dubai.
According to Voice of America, Mr. Mwiimbu said that the UPND had “documentary proof” of some Zambians celebrating after the chairman of the Zambia Electoral Commission, Justice Essau Chulu, announced that the Dubai company had won the bidding to print the ballot papers.
Election officials have also dismissed the allegations of rigging, saying that the slow publication of the results was due to the fact that the general elections featured votes for the president, parliament, mayors, local councilors and an amendment to the constitution on changes to the bill of rights.
Zambia has enjoyed a history of conducting peaceful elections, with its election climate being held up as a model for democracy in Africa. However, these elections have seen both candidates implicated in violence during the campaign. As a result, international observers have urged Zambians to take any discontent with the elections to the courts, rather than taking to the streets.
