Zambian voter for new president

A sluggish economy in Zambia could tilt the election in the opposition’s favor.

Zambia’s electoral commission said it would announce initial results on Friday in a tightly contested election contest between incumbent President Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema, who accuses Lungu of mismanaging the economy.

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.

Officials reported a high turnout on Thursday, when Zambians also voted for the vice president, members of parliament, councilors and in a referendum on changes to the constitution.

“We want to make sure that what we bring to you is factual and we can only come when we have received the results from all the polling stations in a constituency,” chief electoral officer Priscilla Isaac told a news conference. “There is no deliberate delay. We are aware of the volume of work that has gone into counting ballots for 5 elections,” Isaac said.

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent, a second round of voting between the two leading candidates must be held within 37 days.

Hichilema, a businessman and an economist, says he is more qualified than Lungu, a former lawyer, to steer the economy out of its slump. Weak commodity prices have hit Africa’s second-largest copper producer, forcing it to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Lungu says he needs more time to diversify the economy from copper.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has said it anticipates the final results by late Saturday or early Sunday.

Source: Reuters