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LUSAKA. – Zambians will decide today whether to re-elect President Edgar Lungu after the country’s worst economic performance in decades.
His main rival, in what polls suggest is a close election race, is 59-year-old Hakainde Hichilema, making his sixth run for the presidency.
Hichilema has already narrowly lost to Lungu twice: in a 2015 by-election after the death of ex-President Michael Sata and then in general polls the following year.
Election fever was palpable on the streets of the capital, Lusaka, yesterday as various political parties made their final push for votes.
Lungu hosted a virtual final election rally yesterday afternoon while supporters of the governing Patriotic Front (PF) drove around Freedom Square handing out party regalia to excited party supporters and street vendors.
Hichilema, hosted a press briefing at his residence where he appealed to international observers not to feel under pressure by declaring free and fair elections without tangible evidence to support this.
Hichilema said today’s election will translate into a victory for his party.
He also appealed to members of the police and the military to ensure stability and the rule of law and urged the country’s over seven million registered voters to go out in their numbers to cast their ballots.
Heavily armed soldiers are on patrol in Lusaka. Their deployment came as tensions and violence between rival political camps increased in the runup to the elections.
Supporters of the ruling party and the opposition — armed with machetes, axes, knives and slingshots — have repeatedly clashed in various parts of the country since campaigning began in May.
After two people — supporters of the ruling party, according to police — were brutally killed in the clashes, President Edgar Lungu sent the army in “to help the Zambia police in dealing with the security situation”.
PF party spokesman Antonio Mwanza, claimed on Tuesday that the opposition “is using violence” to “undermine the electoral process” and to intimidate people so they do not turn out in numbers to cast ballots.
Analysts say the result of the closely fought election will set the tone for investment in the copper-rich southern African nation.
Surveys suggest economic hardship has eroded support for Lungu, accused of borrowing unsustainably to finance flashy infrastructure projects, as living costs soared.
In the capital Lusaka, green PF party manifestos have dominated billboards lining newly built highways and overpass bridges.
Opposition voters, whose party colour is red, are keeping a low profile in the city, traditionally a PF stronghold. Some of them even wear green to avoid trouble – known as the “watermelon tactic”.
“We do not feel that safe … there is so much intimidation,” said United Party for National Development (UNPD) supporter William Njombo, a 42-year-old pastor.
The Covid-19 pandemic meant that only door-to-door campaigning was allowed rather than mass gatherings, although politicians have rallied under the guise of mask-distribution events.
There are also concerns about a newly compiled electoral register, which some observers allege is skewed towards PF strongholds and a controversial cybersecurity law that could be used to block the internet.
But the PF disagreed, insisting that Lungu will win the vote outright.
“We want to challenge anybody … who claims the elections will not be free and fair to provide evidence of rigging,” Mwanza told journalists. –Al Jazeera/BBC.
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