Lusaka - Zambia's constitutional court gave the country's main
opposition leader two more days Saturday to present a petition challenging last
month's disputed re-election of President Edgar Lungu.
The
court had on Friday given Hakainde Hichilema, who was defeated in the August 11
vote, only two hours, prompting his lawyers to say they would no longer
represent him.
On
Saturday it asked Hichilema, leader of the opposition United Party for National
Development, to seek legal representation and the matter would continue on
Monday.
"This
matter has to be heard and each party will have two days and the respondents
will also have two days," said constitutional court presidential Hildah
Chibomba.
Lungu
won the election by a narrow margin according to official results, garnering
50.3% or about 100 000 votes. Hichilema, a businessman vying for the presidency
for a fifth time, won 47.6% but immediately claimed the poll was rigged.
After
the disputed election Lungu moved to assure supporters that a new government
would work to improve the welfare of Zambians grappling with high inflation and
rising food prices.
A drop
in copper prices of almost one-third from their peak in February 2011 has
resulted in thousands of job losses in the mining industry, where most
companies are owned by foreign, notably Chinese, investors.
Zambia
previously enjoyed a stellar period of growth, peaking at 10.3% in 2010.
Despite
the legal challenge to his re-election, Lungu, head of the Patriotic Front, has
vowed to hit the ground running.
"For
the next five years, it will be total work, there will be no honeymoon,"
Lungu told supporters at a rally shortly after his re-election.
