LUSAKA — Zambia's High
Court has rejected an application by the main opposition party to block
President Edgar Lungu's inauguration set for next week after last month's
contested election, his lawyers said on Friday.
According to voanews opposition
United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema had
petitioned the court to overturn a Constitutional Court decision not to give
him more time to legally challenge Lungu's re-election.
He says the
Aug. 11 vote was rigged, a charge Lungu denies.
"The
court has refused to block the inauguration. The High Court has no power to
block a decision of a higher court," Lungu's lawyer Tutwa Ngulube told
reporters.
Hichilema's
lawyer Keith Mweemba said the UPND would pursue the case in the Supreme Court.
Lungu has led
the ruling Patriotic Front since his predecessor Michael Sata died in 2014. He
won the presidency in January 2015, defeating Hichilema in their first election
confrontation.
Zambia is
Africa's second-largest copper producer, but its economy has been hit by a
slump in commodity prices, leading to mine closures and exacerbating its
already high unemployment.
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