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elections, after rioting broke out in two towns over frustration with the slow pace of the tally.
The president “appealed to the Zambian people to remain calm and peaceful as they await the announcement” of the final results, Banda’s office said in a statement.
The president “appealed to the Zambian people to remain calm and peaceful as they await the announcement” of the final results, Banda’s office said in a statement.
“The president is disturbed by reports of unruly behaviour by people who are taking advantage of the delay in announcement of the results to create anarchy.”
The statement threatened that peace would be “difficult to regain” if lost, and called on police to arrest those responsible for the violence.
It also asked members of the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy to stay above the fray.
Riots erupted in two Zambian mining towns over the slow pace of results from this week’s polls, as European Union observers accused the ruling party of abusing state resources in the campaign.
The tense election pits incumbent President Rupiah Banda against nationalist Michael Sata – arch-rivals whose last face-off in 2008 saw Banda win by a margin of just two percentage points.
At the time of going to the press, 85 of the country’s 150 constituencies had reported results, giving Sata 43 percent of the vote to Banda’s 36 percent.
The gap between them narrowed as results trickled in from rural areas, where Banda enjoys greater support.
Election officials had initially promised to release final results within 48 hours of the balloting, but the weekend now seems a likelier goal.
Anger at delays in the tallying boiled over yesterday in the Copperbelt mining towns of Kitwe and Ndola, where supporters of Sata’s Patriotic Front (PF) accused authorities of withholding results that favoured their candidate.
Police used teargas to break up a demonstration in the poor neighbourhood of Chimwemwe, on the outskirts of Kitwe, after a mob burned down a market there the night before, residents told AFP.
Police said rioters in both towns had stoned buses and shops.
Election officials called for patience as they continued processing the results.
In Lusaka, most businesses were closed yesterday amid fears of new violence, and the usual bustle of downtown had diminished to a small trickle of traffic as teams of riot police patrolled the city.
Riots erupted in several slums around the capital during balloting Tuesday as Sata supporters alleged their opponents were trying to steal the vote.
Observers say they have not found any evidence to back up the claims of fraud by Sata’s supporters, and insist the violence has not jeopardised the elections.
In a related development, Zambia’s High Court in Lusaka Wednesday granted an injunction to the country’s Attorney General barring three private media houses from announcing results of the country’s presidential and parliamentary polls before the official results, and from publishing speculative stories on the outcome of the September 20 elections, state media reported.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) also disclosed that its website had been hacked by people who posted a statement stating that the commission had announced and declared 133 Presidential results.
ECZ chairperson Justice Irene Mambilima said the commission had since shut down the results component of the website until an investigation is carried out. – AFP-The Wall Street Journal-Zambia Daily Mail.
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