Zambia poll result to stand

Opposition candidate Mazoka says he will continue fighting the result

LUSAKA, Zambia (CNN) -- A High Court judge has rejected a petition by the country's opposition parties to halt the swearing in of a new president and force a ballot recount.

Ten opposition parties had wanted the swearing-in ceremony to be put off, saying the December 27 election had been affected by ballot-rigging.

Judge Peter Chitenge said, however, he could not act against the country's constitution, which only allows appeals to be made 14 days after election results have been announced and the swearing-in ceremony has taken place.

Chitenge said he would not react to pressure from members of opposition political parties, clearing the way for Levy Mwanawasa to be sworn in at 11a.m. (0900 GMT).

VIDEO Zambia's 10 opposition parties are demanding an investigation into the charge that the government rigged the presidential election. CNN's Colleen McEdwards reports (December 31) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   RESOURCES At a glance: Zambia  Provided by: CountryWatch.com

A lawyer by trade, Mwanawasa was the presidential candidate for the Movement for a Multiparty Democracy (MMD), the former ruling party. It has ruled Zambia since 1991 under outgoing president Frederick Chiluba.

Mwanawasa served as vice president when the MMD first came to power, but he later resigned.

After the court verdict the second-place candidate in the presidential poll, businessman Anderson Masoka, told CNN that he did not accept the outcome.

"We are going to continue fighting these results until Mwanawasa is removed from government." he said.

Announcing his ruling, High Court judge Peter Chitengi said: "Under the law as it stands, I cannot order the arrest of the presidential election before the swearing in of the president. I dismiss the applicants' complaints."

The opposition had accused MMD of rigging the closely-fought presidential poll in favour of Mwanawasa.

The MMD and Electoral Commission rejected the allegations, but European Union observers cited glaring irregularities in the electoral process.

The observers said they had seen evidence of "many serious shortcomings" in the poll.

There have been allegations that in some areas the number of declared votes exceeded that of registered voters, that ballot boxes had been stuffed, extra ballot boxes appeared long after counting had ended and that voter cards were used fraudulently.

Government spokesman Vernon Mwaanga accused the EU of incitement and teaming up with the opposition to try to oust the MMD from power. "We invited them to monitor elections, not to run them," he said.

Chitengi earlier abandoned his courtroom after police clashed with thousands of opposition supporters outside the High Court.

The protesters were demanding the court nullify the polls.

On Tuesday morning, results from 140 of 150 constituencies gave Mwanawasa 482,381 votes versus 449,012 for Mazoka.

The government-owned Times of Zambia newspaper declared Mwanawasa "the obvious winner of the presidential elections."