Despite long queues, polls turnout was peaceful

ONE of Zambia’s most tightly-contested elections attracted a high turnout yesterday, with many voters waiting for hours to cast their ballots as the opposition challenged the government over an economic downturn.

About 6.7 million people were registered to vote in the southern African country, where President Edgar Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) was expected to lose votes to opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema and his United Party for National Development (UPND).

Some Lusaka residents started to queue at polling stations hours before they opened, observers said.

Some polling stations opened late due to confusion caused by changes in locations and a lack of lids for ballot boxes. A peaceful atmosphere characterised the voting process at the 7700 polling stations across the country, unlike in the run-up to the election day which was marred by violence.

“Everything is fine, people from different political parties are just chatting to each other,” a voter found at Jaracanda Primary School in Lusaka said.

A caller to one of the radio stations said it was impressive that many people had turned up to cast their votes.

“People have turned up in large numbers and I do not see any voter apathy. It is impressive that people are eager to cast their votes,” said another voter, identified as Davy.

Pictures on social media from various polling stations showed long queues of people waiting to cast their votes. Geoffrey Kambitu, a presiding officer at Jacaranda Primary, said it was impressive that people had turned up to cast their vote, despite the violence that had characterised the campaigns.

“There is an overwhelming response as you can see,” he said.

Violent clashes between supporters of Lungu and Hichilema characterised the campaign.

In his national address televised on state television on Wednesday evening, the Zambian president appealed for calm and the need to maintain peace in the post-election period.

“As president, I want to assure the nation that I will do my very best to provide the necessary leadership to ensure there is law and order in the remaining phase of the electoral process. The need to observe law and order cannot be over-emphasised…” he said.

Apart from choosing a president, the electorate will be voting for 156 MPs, 1 624 local councillors, city mayors and for a referendum meant to amend part three of the constitution which deals with people’s rights.

The elections, featuring a total of nine presidential candidates, were seen as a two-horse race between Lungu, 59, and Hichilema, 54.

The opposition accuses the PF of not having been able to contain an economic crisis created by falling prices of copper – the country’s main revenue-earner – and drought-induced electricity shortages, which triggered a steep fall of the kwacha currency and spiralling inflation.

Lungu became president after narrowly winning a by-election in January last year caused by the death of his predecessor Michael Sata.

Zambia is regarded as one of Africa’s most successful democracies, with many peaceful changes of power having taken place since multi-party democracy was introduced in 1990.

But yesterday’s elections were preceded by a wave of violence, with clashes erupting between opposition and government supporters.

Police also broke up opposition campaigning and shot two UPND supporters dead. The country’s largest independent newspaper, The Post, was meanwhile closed down in what the authorities said was a tax dispute.

Critics of the government say it has failed to use copper revenue to alleviate poverty while allowing multinational copper companies to avoid paying large amounts in tax.

The opposition said Lungu couldn’t win without resorting to fraud. – dpa and Xinhua