LUSAKA, Zambia
Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, conceded defeat on Monday after a landslide election win by opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, marking the southern African country's third peaceful handover of power to an opposition party.
With all but one of 156 constituencies counted, Hichilema had won 2,810,777 votes
against Lungu's 1,814,201, and the electoral commission declared
him the next president.
"I will comply with the constitutional provisions for a peaceful
transition of power. I would therefore like to congratulate my brother, the
president-elect, His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema," Lungu, 64, said in a short televised
address to the nation.
Power has switched from a ruling party to the opposition twice before
since independence from Britain in 1964. The latest shift
strengthens Zambia's democratic credentials and sets an example on a continent
with a patchy history of peaceful change.
Lungu had cried foul on Saturday, calling the election "not free
and fair" after violence against ruling Patriotic Front party
agents in three provinces, but the size of the margin would have made it
near-impossible to challenge the result in court.
Wearing the red and yellow of Hichilema's United Party for National Development (UPND)
Hichilema's supporters celebrated, dancing and singing, while drivers honked
their horns.
"This victory is so sweet," 37-year-old Jane Phiri said, next
to her market stall, adding that she hoped Lungu supporters would now cease
extorting informal levies from her. "This spirit of change was bottled up
for a long time," she said.
When celebrations die down, Hichilema, 59, a former CEO at an
accounting firm before entering politics, faces the task of reviving an economy
in turmoil.
Zambia became Africa's first pandemic-era sovereign default in November after failing to keep up with its international debt payments.
The default was driven by depressed commodity prices - which had
pushed Zambia into
recession well before the pandemic - worsened by the pandemic itself.
Zambia's sovereign dollar bonds jumped nearly 2 cents on Monday after
the news of Hichilema's win. Zambia's kwacha currency strengthened nearly 1%
against the dollar.
The economy has been buoyed slightly by more favourable copper prices
this year - now hovering around decade highs, driven partly by the boom in
electric cars.
Zambian President, Edgar Lungu |
The election is the culmination of an acrimonious rivalry between the
two that in 2017 led Lungu to arrest
and imprison Hichilema for
refusing to make way for his motorcade. This is Hichilema's sixth attempt at
the presidency since 2006.
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