By JOSEPH J. SCHATZ
The Associated Press
Monday, October 2, 2006; 8:16 PM
LUSAKA, Zambia -- Zambia's Electoral Commission said Monday that President Levy Mwanawasa was re-elected to a second term, collecting 43 percent of the votes cast in last week's balloting.
The commission, giving its final total from 150 voting districts, said the incumbent's chief rival, Michael Sata, had 30 percent in Thursday's election, followed by businessman Haikande Hichilima with 25 percent.
The blunt-spoken Sata said he would contest the results, saying on state television that "the whole process was fraudulent."
Zambian Chief Justice Ernest Sakala certified the re-election of Mwanawasa and ordered the president to be inaugurated for his second term Tuesday.
The certification came just moments after the Electoral Commission announced final results giving Mwanawasa the victory.
"I therefore declare Levy Mwanawasa duly elected president," Sakala said on state radio and television.
Sata's supporters clashed with police earlier Monday as postelection rioting spread into four of Lusaka's impoverished townships.
Witnesses said police fired live ammunition into the air in the Garden township to stop looters and used tear gas to control growing crowds in Mandevu, Chipata and Bauleni townships as tensions mounted ahead of the announcement of final results.
Mwanawasa appealed for calm late Sunday after police clashed with supporters of Sata, whose early lead in the five-man presidential race evaporated after days of slow vote-counting.
The government says the election was run cleanly, but Zambians are wary after the last election in 2001 was marred by allegations of rigging. Mwanawasa won with 29 percent of the vote in 2001.
Foreign observers called Thursday's voting largely smooth and transparent. State Department spokesman Tom Casey added "that the Zambian electoral commission has, in fact, done a good job of running these elections." He urged all parties to resolve their disputes through peaceful, legal channels.
Sata has demanded the Electoral Commission investigate alleged irregularities, including tens of thousands of ballot papers allegedly missing in tallies.
In central Lusaka, some businesses were closed and others allowed employees to go home early because of the unrest.
Oxter Banda, an election official for Sata's Patriotic Front party, said disturbances in Lusaka's Matero township, one of Sata's biggest strongholds, were quelled by police and soldiers overnight. In neighboring Chipata township, a witness said two police vehicles were torched and some nearby shops were burned and looted.
Police fired tear gas to disperse rioters outside the main vote-counting center in Lusaka on Sunday and reported stone-throwing and rioting in three other impoverished Lusaka districts.
Heavy security included police and troop reinforcements outside the State House, Mwanawasa's official residence.
The disturbances in Chipata began Monday after Irene Mambilima, head judge of the Election Commission, said that, in overnight tallies, Mwanawasa climbed 1 percentage point to 43 percent of the count in 135 districts, where turnout was 70 percent of registered voters.
Mwanawasa and his Movement for Multiparty Democracy have touted a record of economic and anti-corruption policies that have won praise from international donors, who last year agreed to cancel nearly all of Zambia's $7.2 billion foreign debt.
The opposition argues economic gains have not trickled down to the majority in a nation where 73 percent live in poverty and 50 percent have no work. Sata drew huge crowds in poor townships with promises of jobs and a crackdown on "bogus" investors, singling out growing numbers of Chinese in the country.
Sata won overwhelmingly in Lusaka and urban areas of Zambia's copper mining region, but fell behind as Mwanawasa picked up thousands of votes in rural areas where Sata did not campaign.