31 October 2008
Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata has taken an early lead in the country's presidential election, according to preliminary results released by the Zambian electoral commission on Friday.
In figures posted on the commission's website on Friday morning, it said Sata had won 187,873 votes so far, against 96,325 for the ruling party's candidate, Vice-President Rupiah Banda.
An unofficial, independently-run website - whose sponsors are not revealed on the site - suggested that with many more results declared, albeit only one third of constituencies, Sata still had a comfortable lead.
The site said counting in 47 of 150 constituencies showed that Sata's Patriotic Front had 428,824 votes and Banda's Movement for Multi-Party Democracy 228,764. The other two candidates were well behind.
In the past Sata has drawn considerable support from urban areas, which usually report results first.
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