Supporters of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF get together attend the get together’s final rally in Shurugwi, positioned within the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe, August 19, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko Acquire Licensing Rights
HARARE, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s elections fee stated late on Saturday that incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa had gained this week’s presidential election with roughly 53% of the vote, however the opposition and analysts instantly questioned the result.
Mnangagwa, who took over from longtime chief Robert Mugabe after a 2017 military coup, was extensively anticipated to safe re-election for a second time period as analysts stated the competition was closely skewed in favour of the ZANU-PF ruling get together, which has been in energy for greater than 4 a long time.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) stated Mnangagwa’s primary challenger, Nelson Chamisa, who leads the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) get together, secured 44% of the presidential vote.
ZANU-PF supporters began singing and cheering on the outcomes centre after the elections fee stated Mnangagwa had gained.
A CCC spokesperson stated in a submit on X, previously Twitter, that the get together rejected “any result hastily assembled without proper verification”.
Mnangagwa additionally narrowly defeated Chamisa on the final presidential election in 2018. The opposition alleges that election was rigged however the constitutional courtroom upheld the result.
While the run-up to the election has been largely free from violence, the police routinely ban opposition rallies and arrest opposition supporters utilizing Zimbabwe’s powerful public order legal guidelines.
ZANU-PF denies it has an unfair benefit or seeks to affect the result of elections by rigging.
The head of the European Union’s observer mission on Friday stated this week’s vote occurred in a “climate of fear”. Southern African regional bloc SADC’s mission famous points together with voting delays, the banning of rallies and biased state media protection.
Nicole Beardsworth, a politics lecturer on the University of the Witwatersrand, stated she thought the late Saturday announcement was most likely a response to the critique by SADC and different election observers.
“We all have a lot of questions about the speed with which ZEC is announcing presidential results,” she stated.
Voting on this week’s presidential and parliamentary elections was meant to be wrapped up inside sooner or later on Wednesday, however it was prolonged into Thursday in some wards after the late distribution of poll papers.
Reporting by Nyasha Chingono and Nelson Banya; Additional reporting by Carien du Plessis and Bhargav Acharya in Johannesburg; Editing by Alexander Winning and Daniel Wallis
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