Zambian opposition challenger Michael Sata conceded defeat on Monday as official results in the country’s tightly fought presidential election gave incumbent Levy Mwanawasa an unassailable lead.
But he said Mwanawasa had ”stolen victory” and urged his supporters who staged violent protests on Sunday to remain calm.
Sata said he expected votes from remaining constituencies to take his tally to at most 900 000 votes.
”Mwanawasa has over one million votes already. If the vote was not stolen I was going to beat him. But because the vote has been stolen I will not catch up,” he added.
Electoral authorities, citing logistical problems, earlier on Monday announced a second delay in the release of final results of the vote, the commission said.
With only 15 of 150 constituencies still to be declared, results certified by the Electoral Commission of Zambia put Mwanawasa at 1 065 732 votes, or 43%.
Sata had 686 654 votes, or 27,7%, while wealthy businessman Hakainde Hichilema of the United Democratic Alliance slipped to third place with 668 396 votes or 26,98%.
Banks and businesses were closed in Zambia’s capital on Monday after a night of looting by protesters alleging vote rigging in favour of Mwanawasa.
Police fired teargas for the second straight day, dispersing protesters who had gathered in Lusaka’s volatile Garden township, an opposition stronghold, witnesses said.
Police sealed off the main road from downtown Lusaka to the presidential palace. Heavily armed paramilitary units took up positions in front of banks and strategic government institutions, including the vote-counting centre.
The Copperbelt region, an opposition bastion that produces Zambia’s mainstay copper, remained calm with mines and businesses operating normally, residents there said.
Free and fair
International observers have declared Thursday’s voting free and fair and a model for Africa. But Sata says he has evidence 400 000 ballots were spoiled or disappeared.
The Southern African country, whose mainstay is copper exports, is accustomed to accusations of vote fraud — most recently in the 2001 elections that brought Mwanawasa to power. But Zambia has largely escaped the political violence that has dogged many other African countries.
Sata had looked set to sweep Mwanawasa from power on the back of strong support from Zambia’s poor, who are angry that the country’s economic reforms have not translated into a better life for them. More than two thirds of Zambians live on less than $1 a day.
But Mwanawasa, lauded by international donors for his economic reforms, streaked ahead in the vote count, relegating Sata to third place behind Hichilema on Sunday.
Sata has accused Mwanawasa’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy of spoiling or stealing more than 400 000 ballot papers.
Sata, a 69-year-old populist who has praised the controversial land policies of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, had vowed to get tough with Chinese investors. His stronghold included Zambia’s key Copperbelt region. — Reuters