Mwanawasa wins tight Zambian election race

Mwanawasa wins tight Zambian election race

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By Staff Reporter

ZAMBIAN President Levy Mwanawasa has won a second term in office in an election his challenger Michael Sata accused him of rigging, official results showed Monday.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia said Mwanawasa took 1,177,846 votes counted while his main challenger, Michael Sata, scored 804,748 votes. Wealthy businessman Hakainde Hichilema came third on 693,772 votes.

Sata - who had staked out a solid lead in early results - conceded defeat earlier on Monday but said Mwanawasa had stolen the victory even as Sata’s supporters again rioted in Lusaka.

Sata refused to accept that Mwanawasa had won the ballot fairly but said he did not want to waste his time challenging the result through the courts.

“Once Mwanawasa is declared the winner, I will congratulate him for successfully stealing the vote,” Sata told reporters.

“I am not going to petition (the supreme court) because I have no time to waste in court. I will go back to the people and thank them for their support but I will put up a big battle inside parliament and outside parliament.”

Both Sata and Hichilema have voiced unhappiness about the counting process, with the Patriotic Front alleging that some 400,000 ballots are unaccounted for. The elections commission has said it is investigating the complaints.

Asked if he was making a formal concession of defeat, Sata replied: “How can I concede when I am complaining of votes being stolen?”

However Sata, who has a massive following among Zambia’s urban poor, repeated an earlier appeal for calm from his supporters. “We are not going to do anything that will destroy Zambia.”

Sata’s pleas however failed to put a halt to a second day of rioting in slum areas of the capital where a mob looted and set fire to stores owned by Mwanawasa supporters as well as clashing with the security forces.

Riot police unleashed volleys of tear gas and fired ammunition into the air in a bid to quell the violence in the Chipata township in the north of the city.
A number of the protesters sustained cuts and bruises as they were arrested but there was no sign of serious casualties.

Around 20 stores owned by MMD activists were targeted by the rioters who could be seen making off with their contents.

Residents in the city of Kitwe, in the north of the copperbelt region, also reported rioting by Sata supporters.

Violence first erupted in impoverished neighbourhoods of Lusaka on Sunday night as Sata slipped well behind Mwanawasa in the ongoing count of ballots. At one stage, the army was sent in to restore order.

Sata’s campaign was largely based on his pledge to reverse the plight of the poor in a country where two-thirds of people live on less than $1 a day.
But, while he performed strongly in urban areas, he has failed to widen his support to rural regions where Mwanawasa’s base held up.

Mwanawasa, who has asked for more time to make inroads on poverty levels, is seeking a second and final term in office. The mild-mannered former lawyer acknowledged during the contest that he had only “scratched the surface”.

The MMD has been in power since 1991 when it ousted Kenneth Kaunda, the country’s president since independence in 1964.

As well as choosing a president in Thursday’s election, Zambians also cast their ballots for parliament and municipalities. – Agencies
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