LUSAKA - Zambia's opposition Patriotic Front will launch a court challenge today to demand a vote recount after centrist politician Rupiah Banda was sworn in as president on Sunday after a disputed poll.
Defeated opposition leader Michael Sata has branded the election to find a successor to the late president Levy Mwanawasa a fraud.
Mr Mwanawasa died from a stroke in August, two years into his second five-year presidential term.
The court petition will ask for a recount and the verification of all ballots cast in the election, he said.
Mr Banda - acting president after Mr Mwanawasa's death - won 40 per cent of the 1.79 million votes cast on Thursday versus 38 per cent for Mr Sata, according to final results released by the electoral commission. The margin of victory was 35,209 votes.
Mr Sata, who says the poll was marked by discrepancies between vote tallies and the number of voters on registration lists, led through two days of counting before Mr Banda overtook him in results late on Saturday.- (Reuters)