{"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\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/","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<\/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>\nImage copyright<\/span>AFP<\/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<\/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":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-15T16:40:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/\",\"name\":\"Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-15T16:40:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-15T16:40:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu declared election winner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"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 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2016-08-15T16:40:01+00:00","author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/","name":"Zambia's President Edgar Lungu declared election winner - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-15T16:40:01+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-15T16:40:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/zambias-president-edgar-lungu-declared-election-winner\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu declared election winner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"supporter](\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/1792F\/production\/_90795569_mediaitem90795568.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\n![\"President](\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/BF58\/production\/_90748984_mediaitem90716905.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n![\"Hakainde](\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/10D78\/production\/_90748986_8f478c50-3b3b-43ff-bce5-73c61678869b.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\n