Zambia's Lungu Ahead As Opposition Cries Foul

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published August 15, 2016 | 02:07 PM

LUSAKA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Augst,2016) : President Edgar Lungu held a slight lead early Monday in Zambia's closely-fought election, as the opposition claimed the vote was rigged. Main challenger Hakainde Hichilema said late Sunday that unexplained delays in releasing the results of Thursday's vote 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 is making his fifth bid for the presidency.

"We know that the PF, once they realised 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 initially said results would be announced within 48 hours of the close of voting. By Sunday 85 percent of the results had been released, with Lungu ahead of Hichilema's United Party for National Development (UPND) by just 70,571 votes.

The other seven presidential candidates were far behind.