Opposition¹ leader Michael Sata has won Zambia's presidential election after two days of vote counting following a tight race with incumbent² Rupiah Banda.

经过两天的机票工作，赞比亚反对派领导迈克尔·萨塔赢得总统选举胜利。

Mr Sata was declared winner by Chief Justice Ernest Sakala after polling 43% of the vote with just seven constituencies left to be counted.

The election had been marred³ by riots in Zambia's northern mining region.

The anger had been prompted by a ban on the media announcing results not verified by the electoral commission.

The electoral commission said it had taken the step after its website was hacked⁴ to falsely record a landslide⁵ for 74-year-old Mr Sata.

Mr Banda's Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has ruled Zambia for 20 years and this was the fourth time Patriotic⁶ Front (PF) leader Mr Sata had run for the presidency⁷.

He lost the last election, in 2008, by just 35,000 votes which sparked rioting by some opposition supporters in the party's urban strongholds.

'King Cobra'

However, they were in jubilant（欢呼的） mood after the victory announcement early on Friday morning. The BBC's Louise Redvers, in the capital Lusaka, said parties were expected to continue into the night.

Mr Sata, who reportedly used to sweep floors at London's Victoria Station, has had a lengthy⁸ career in politics. He served as an MMD minister for local government, labour and social security, and health before quitting in 2001.

Known as "King Cobra（扁颈眼镜蛇） " for his venomous（恶毒的） tongue, foreign mining firms have frequently been the target of his criticism about labour conditions.

There were suggestions Chinese firms were bankrolling（提供资金） Mr Banda's re-election bid in the run-up to the poll, with PF candidates expressing surprise at the amount of funds available to the MMD.

Meanwhile, international election observers criticised the MMD for abusing state resources during its campaign and noted⁹ serious media bias¹⁰ on the part of the state broadcaster.

However, the PF's promises of more jobs and better education appear to have won over the electorate¹¹（选民，选区） .