Opposition Takes Lead in Zambia Election

Opposition leader Anderson Mazoka remained in the lead today in the Zambia’s presidential election, but an opposition front rejected the latest results, raising the specter of a chaotic end to the closest race in 37 years.

The latest certified results from the electoral commission for 74 of 150 constituencies gave Mazoka, of the United Party for National Development, 274,380 votes, compared with 265,919 for the ruling party’s Levy Mwanawasa, President Frederick Chiluba’s chosen heir.

Chiluba’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy rejected Mazoka’s call to admit defeat, while an opposition front that includes Mazoka cited massive voting irregularities countrywide and warned of chaos should the MMD declare victory.

“Mr. Mwanawasa cannot concede defeat because there is no basis for such action,” government spokesman Vernon Mwaanga told a news conference.

“In our first-past-the-post system, every vote counts, and a winner cannot be declared without each and every vote being counted,” he said, adding that final results would not be made public until Tuesday.

Nevertheless, Mazoka declared himself the winner and accused the government of trying to cheat him of victory in the toughest election since Zambia’s independence from Britain in 1964.

“I would like Mr. Mwanawasa to be a man of integrity and to accept that he has lost this election. I urge the electoral commission to declare me the winner,” Mazoka said at a separate news conference.

Leaders of Zambia’s 10 opposition parties, including Mazoka, accused the commission of manipulating the results in favor of the MMD.

The opposition said it had asked Zambia’s chief justice not to proceed with the inauguration of a new head of state Wednesday until all allegations had been investigated.

Irregularities cited include cases where the number of declared votes exceeded that of registered voters. In some cases, extra ballot boxes allegedly appeared long after counting had been completed.

“This doesn’t sound good. We could have problems in this country if this dispute is not amicably resolved,” one African diplomat said.