The counting of the presidential and parliamentary elections, organized on Thursday August 14 in Zambia, is suspended for at least 24 hours due to “violence”, the electoral commission of this southern African country announced on Friday.
The main opponent, Brian Mundubile, earlier claimed victory in the first round, while outgoing President Hakainde Hichilema reacted by calling on Zambians to remain “patient”.
“The Electoral Commission of Zambia has noted with concern reports of violence during the counting and proclamation of results in some districts. (…) Given the security situation and the persistent threats of violence, the commission has suspended, with immediate effect, the counting and proclamation of results”, declared to the media in Lusaka the director of elections at the commission, Brown Kasaro.
“The commission will review this suspension within 24 hours,” he added.
Victory claimed by a coalition of opposition parties
At the head of a coalition of opposition parties and the most serious rival of “HH, the former minister of ex-president Edgar Lungu Brian Mundubile claimed in a video posted on social networks to have “won this election both at the presidential level and in terms of the majority of seats in Parliament” just before this announcement.
Hakainde Hichilema, who came to power after a peaceful democratic transition in 2021, reacted by asking the 8.7 million voters called to vote to remain “serene, patient and patriotic while awaiting the official results communicated by the authorities responsible for managing the election”, in a press release on social networks.
This confusion is a blow to the reputation of a stable democracy of this copper giant, the second largest producer on the continent and eighth in the world of this metal, which is essential for electricity networks, data centers and electric vehicles.
On the eve of the election, Zambia’s human rights commission said it was “closely monitoring the arrests and detentions of political candidates, their supporters and journalists.”
During a campaign marked by clashes, the opposition tried to capitalize on the discontent of part of the population to try to return to the forefront.
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The government of Edgar Lungu, who died in 2025, had nevertheless left a country in sovereign debt default, after years of massive debt, when Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND) won the presidential election in 2021, in his sixth attempt.
The results of the vote announced on August 17?
Since then, his government has secured a historic debt restructuring deal, reinstated an International Monetary Fund program and put the economy back on the path to growth, winning praise from international donors and investors.
Fourteen candidates in total participated in the race for the presidency of this country historically close to China, with numerous investments in the Zambian mining sector.
The results of the presidential election were to be announced by August 17. A second round must decide between the first two if no candidate obtains more than 50% of the votes cast.
With AFP
