Zambia will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on August 11 under a new constitution, a government spokesman has said. President Edgar Lungu assented to the constitutional amendments, ratifying the election date.
“The new constitution has a fixed election date and that will take effect as soon as the president signs,” Spokesman Chanda told the press. The elections are expected to be a tight contest between Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party and Hakainde Hichilema’s opposition United Party for National Development (UPND).
h3. Confident of Victory
Under the previous constitution, the president set the election date every five years. Presidential candidates will run on a joint ticket with a vice-presidential candidate, unlike the current arrangement where the president appoints his deputy, Chanda said. Other amendments include a clause requiring a winning presidential candidate to win more than 50 percent of the valid votes cast, he said. President Lunga stated earlier that he was confident that Zambians were firmly behind him. The incumbent said he expected to secure at least 71 percent of the ballot in August.
Presidential elections were previously held in Zambia in January 2015 to elect a president to serve out the remainder of the term of President Michael Sata, following his death on October 28, 2014. Lungu narrowly won the election with 48.3 percent of the vote, with Hichilema close behind with 46.6 percent.