Zambia prepared on Friday to begin announcing the results of a tight presidential election between top contender President Edgar Lungu and main rival Hakande Hichilema amid restrictions on internet access and violence in three regions.
use of social media such as WhatsApp Restrictions on access are part of everyday life in the southern African country and could fuel doubts about the outcome of the vote, which appears to be very close to the call. Zambia’s Electoral Commission (ECZ) said voting continued overnight in some areas and the last polling station closed at 5 a.m. (1:30 a.m.) on Friday to allow those who queued for hours to vote. I was standing.
Election Commission chief official Patrick Nashindano said the commission has started receiving results from all 156 constituencies and will begin announcing them at 3 p.m. (1:30 p.m.). The full result will be known within 72 hours of the close of polling.
The government declined to comment on the disruption to the internet, which users said affected several social media sites. Mobile phone network asked questions to the government. Facebook Confirmed it was one of the affected sites. Hichilema took to Twitter to accuse the ruling party of ordering the shutdown of social media. He urged Zambia’s telecommunications regulator to “unblock the Internet so that citizens can follow the electoral process and continue with their lives non-stop”.
“When an outgoing regime panics, it may resort to desperate measures. So keep calm and focus. Queues were observed at polling stations and the fact that polling continued throughout the night may indicate high turnout.
The ruling Patriotic Front party said its own vote count showed an overwhelming turnout in its strongholds and was confident of victory. “We have also done well in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, though not to our satisfaction. These results show that Edgar Lungu is winning. We are confident that we will lead the day,” said the ruling party’s on Thursday. An officer was murdered.
He directed the military to send reinforcements to the provinces, although European and African observers said the vote had so far been largely peaceful. A Reuters correspondent saw dozens of soldiers and two armored cars at two polling stations in Lusaka. But businesses were open as normal and citizens were going about their daily routine as they waited for the results.
The winner of the election faces the task of boosting the flagged economy of Zambia, which in November became the first country on the continent during the coronavirus pandemic to default on its sovereign debt.
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