Off the wire
• Nigeria beats Zambia in World Cup qualifier  • Iran, China vow to further enhance cooperation  • Man hanged at central Athens square, two men arrested  • Zambia set to open hunting season  • Inflation in Macedonia registers 0.2 pct y-o-y growth  • UNAMID says received no information on use of chemical weapons in Sudan's Darfur  • 1st LD-Writethru: Xi stresses Internet innovation, security  • China Voice: China moves to become an Internet power  • Vietnamese party chief mentions new growth model  • Iran seeks German investment in petrochemical industry  
You are here: 　 Home

Zambian leader dismisses lack of opposition acceptance

Xinhua, October 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zambian President Edgar Lungu said on Sunday he does not need to be accepted by the main opposition party because he has already been recognized by the majority of the people after the August 11 general elections.

Lungu said he does not need the acceptance of the United Party for National Development (UPND) because he was democratically elected and has been recognized by Zambians and the world at large.

The opposition party has refused to recognize Lungu as winner of the August 11 polls after accusing him of stealing the votes.

Answering questions from journalists at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka, the country's capital before his departure for the Copperbelt Province, the Zambian leader said the electoral process went well according to democratic tenets, adding that various parallel voter tabulations by different organizations have shown that he won the presidential election.

"I don't need to be accepted by the UPND. I am here, and I am the president. I am accepted by Zambians and the world at large. So what is their problem? I don't need recognition from them," he said.

The opposition party, he said, can choose to remain in denial and delusion while the rest of the country moves forward. Endit