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The opposition candidate received 171,604 votes, while the current Edgar Lungu received 110,178 votes.
Hakainde Hichilema, the leader of Zambia’s opposition party, took the lead in the country’s President election According to the preliminary results of the Election Commission on Saturday, the current Edgar Lungu (Edgar Lungu).
Hichilema received 171,604 votes out of 15 of the 156 constituencies in southern African countries, while Lungu received 110,178 votes.
These 15 constituencies include what is believed to be the Lungu stronghold, which shows that Hickelma has made progress since the last election in 2016, when he was weak in a controversial vote damaged by allegations of Lungu manipulation. The advantage is defeated.
Chief Election Officer Patrick Encindano said at a media conference held in the capital Lusaka that these electoral districts received a total of 296,210 votes, with a turnout rate of 71.75%.
The first result, which was originally expected to be announced on Friday, was postponed overnight due to the high voter turnout and political opposition to the election commission’s preliminary figure in a constituency, which is different from the figure of field monitors. .
The Zambia Electoral Commission allowed the last polling station to open at 5 a.m. (03:00 GMT) on Friday to allow people who have been in line for hours in the three regions with restricted Internet access and violence Opportunity to vote.
In the town of Chawama in Lusaka, the parliamentary district before Lungu became president, residents said that supporters of Lungu and Hickelma claimed victory and celebrated all night.
Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party stated that its votes showed a high turnout rate in its stronghold and it was confident of victory. Hichilema is running for the National Development Coalition Party.
On Saturday, social media access in Zambia has basically resumed.
‘A huge referendum’
Lungu-deploying troops after pre-election conflicts-strengthened the military presence in three provinces, including a PF chairman, after two deaths were reported on election day.
An estimated 7 million people registered to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections. The biggest contender, Hickelma, was a successful businessman who challenged Lungu’s attempt to win a second five-year term.
Hickelma, who ran for the sixth time, was supported by a coalition of 10 political parties.
Neville Mumba, another presidential candidate who leads the opposition party of the multi-party democracy movement, said on Friday that the vote was “a large-scale referendum against the Patriotic Front and its inability to lead the country.” Mumba admitted defeat.
Investors are closely watching the outcome of Thursday’s election: the country is heavily indebted and suffered the African continent’s first sovereign default during the pandemic in November.
The support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been widely agreed, but will be suspended until after the vote. Debt restructuring is also seen as an early test of a new global plan to reduce the burden on poor countries.
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