{"id":239547,"date":"2016-08-15T16:40:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T16:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=239547"},"modified":"2016-08-15T16:40:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T16:40:01","slug":"zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=239547","title":{"rendered":"Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu declared election winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has been re-elected, according to official results, which are being challenged by the main opposition party.<\/p>\n

The electoral commission said Mr Lungu had secured 50.35% in Thursday’s vote, just over the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round under a new electoral system.<\/p>\n

His main rival, Hakainde Hichilema, who alleges electoral fraud, won 47.67%.<\/p>\n

Earlier, his UPND party withdrew from the ballot verification process.<\/p>\n

Zambia’s shifting political allegiances: Nomsa Maseko, BBC News, Lusaka<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"supporter<\/span><\/figure>\n

Zambia’s capital Lusaka has been brought to a complete standstill.<\/p>\n

Thousands dressed in the green and white of the Patriotic Front are celebrating on the streets of the city.<\/p>\n

Some are carrying makeshift coffins with opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema’s name on them.<\/p>\n

But the declaration by Zambia’s electoral commission announcing Edgar Lungu as president-elect wasn’t welcomed by all.<\/p>\n

Mr Hichilema described this election as a sham which did not reflect the will of the people.<\/p>\n

He plans to petition the constitutional court to challenge the result. He may well be going at it alone because of the fluidity of Zambia’s political landscape.<\/p>\n

The shifting of political allegiances, which in other parts of the continent would be seen as a betrayal, would mean those who left the Patriotic Front may go back to President Lungu, begging to have their old positions back.<\/p>\n

The UPND has accused the electoral commission of colluding with the governing Patriotic Front (PF) to rig the result.<\/p>\n

“We have evidence to the effect that the votes for Hakainde Hichilema have been deliberately reduced in collusion with the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” UPND lawyer Jack Mwiimbu told journalists.<\/p>\n

“We have confidence that the constitutional court will rise above board and declare the results a nullity.”<\/p>\n

The PF has rejected the allegations.<\/p>\n

Election officials also denied the fraud claims, saying the slow publication of the results was because there were five different votes on Thursday – for president, parliament, mayors, local councillors and an amendment to the constitution on changes to the bill of rights.<\/p>\n

Mr Lungu defeated Mr Hichilema in the previous election, last year, by less than 28,000 votes. This time, his margin of victory was about 200,000 votes.<\/p>\n

Last year’s election was held because President Michael Sata died in office, the second time a serving leader has died in Zambia in the past five years.<\/p>\n

The constitution has now been amended so that the vice-president automatically takes office if a sitting president dies.<\/p>\n

Zambia’s election rivals:<\/p>\n

Edgar Lungu – Patriotic Front (PF)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image copyright<\/span>AFP\"President<\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n
    \n
  • The 59-year-old lawyer became president in January 2015 in an election called after the death in office of President Michael Sata<\/li>\n
  • He served in Mr Sata’s government as minister for justice and defence<\/li>\n
  • Support base: Home area of Eastern province, the capital, Lusaka, and the Copperbelt plus the Bemba-speaking regions<\/li>\n
  • Known for ordering a national day of prayer last year to help combat the economic problems facing the country<\/li>\n
  • Married with six children, this vote is seen as a personal referendum on him<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Hakainde Hichilema – United Party for National Development (UPND)<\/p>\n

    \"Hakainde<\/span><\/figure>\n
      \n
    • The 54-year-old economist has contested nearly all elections in Zambia since 2006<\/li>\n
    • A wealthy businessman, he has a solid track record in the private sector<\/li>\n
    • Support base: Home region of Southern Province and is popular with younger voters<\/li>\n
    • Known for being Zambia’s second largest cattle rancher<\/li>\n
    • Commonly referred to by his initials HH, he is married with three children<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has been re-elected, according to official results, which are being challenged by the main opposition party. The electoral commission said Mr Lungu had secured 50.35% in Thursday’s vote, just over the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round under a new electoral system. His main rival, Hakainde Hichilema, who alleges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":239548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/239548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=239547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=239547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}