LUSAKA: Zambia’s incumbent President Edgar Lungu was on Monday declared the winner of a closely-fought election in the southern African country that the opposition claimed was rigged.
Election commission chief Esau Chulu announced that Lungu was “duly elected” after releasing the final results from Thursday’s election which put the president ahead of his main rival Hakainde Hichilema by around 200,000 votes.
Lungu polled over 1.86 million votes against Hichilema’s 1.66 million, according to results released four days after polling day.
Hichilema had charged on Sunday that unexplained delays in releasing the results were a clear sign of fraud to produce a win for Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF).
“Clearly this is rigging an election, with the collusion of managers at the Electoral Commission of Zambia or commissioners,” said the wealthy businessman, who had made his fifth bid for the presidency.
“We know that the PF, once they realized that they were behind, they wanted to force a re-run. The winner in the elections could have been announced a day or two ago.” The electoral commission had initially said that results would be announced within 48 hours of the close of voting.
Copper-rich Zambia is usually known for its relative stability, but the run-up to the vote was marked by weeks of clashes between supporters of the rival parties which saw at least three people killed.
Election day — which saw a total of nine candidates run for president — was peaceful, with Zambian officials repeatedly issuing calls for calm to try to avoid a violent reaction to the results.
Zambia’s electorate had also cast ballots in parliamentary and municipal elections as well as in a constitutional referendum.
Zambian president Lungu elected in disputed vote
Zambian president Lungu elected in disputed vote
North Korea says it respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader: KCNA
- North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression”
- Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28
SEOUL: North Korea respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader, state media reported Wednesday, as it accused the United States and Israel of destroying regional peace.
“With regard to the recent official announcement that Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the new leader of the Islamic Revolution, we respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by state news agency KCNA.
Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression.”
On Wednesday, the North Korean spokesperson reiterated that position, saying that the United States and Israel “are destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide.”
“Any rhetorical threats and military action, which violate the political system and territorial integrity of the relevant country, interfere in its internal affairs and openly advocate the attempt to overthrow its social system, deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated,” the spokesperson added.
In recent months, the Trump administration has mounted a push to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, eyeing a potential summit between the US president and the North’s Kim Jong Un this year.
After largely ignoring those overtures for months, Kim recently said that the two nations could “get along” if Washington accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status.
