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Zambia's ruling party candidate confident of winning presidential race

Xinhua, January 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

A candidate for the governing party in Zambia on Tuesday expressed confidence that he will emerge as the winner of a presidential election necessitated by the death of President Michael Sata.

While acknowledging that the election was tight, Edgar Lungu, the candidate of the governing Patriotic Front (PF) told reporters after casting his vote at a polling center in his Chawama constituency in Lusaka, the country's capital that he will eventually emerge victorious when results are announced because of the message he sent out during campaigns.

Lungu, who is also justice and defense minister, was accompanied to the polling center by his wife and a heavy security personnel from the party , is considered as a front-runner in the election called to succeed Sata but he faces stiff challenge from Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND).

Lungu further said he will initiate discussions with the mining firms on a new tax regime for the sector which has caused anxiety among the mining companies in order to find a win-win situation.

The governing party candidate, who held his last rally in the Zambian capital on Monday, has mainly campaigned on the basis of continuing with the legacy of his predecessor.

Zambian voters braved the rains and turned up in various poling centers across the country's 10 provinces to choose the country's sixth president since gaining independence from Britain in 1964.

Eleven candidates are contesting in the presidential election and whoever wins will only serve out the remaining 18 months of Sata's term.

Sata won the 2011 general elections and the southern African nation will hold a general election in 2016.

According to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), there are 5.1 million registered voters in Zambia but the turnout has so far been not impressive from many parts of the country due to the rains. Voting has been hampered by late arrival of materials in some districts due to bad roads following the rains the country has experienced. Endi