2023-08-27 05:02:47
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, was reappointed on Saturday for a second term following a vote, with many dysfunctions, the results of which were immediately rejected by the party of his main rival.
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Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa retains the presidential seat. At 80, the outgoing head of state was reappointed on Saturday August 26 for a second term following a ballot, with many dysfunctions, the results of which were immediately rejected by the party of his main rival.
Mnangagwa won 52.6% of the vote once morest 44% in favor of Nelson Chamisa, leader of the first opposition party, the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), the electoral commission announced late in the week. evening.
“Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo of the Zanu-PF party is hereby declared President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” commission chairperson Justice Chigumba proclaimed.
“Frauds” and “impediments”
Zimbabweans went to the polls on Wednesday and Thursday to choose their president and MPs. Nearly 69% of registered voters took part in the vote.
The ballot, which was to close on Wednesday evening, had to be extended by one day. The confusion, and in particular the lack of ballots in the offices, multiplied in particular in the capital Harare, a stronghold of the opposition.
The CCC, which had already denounced “fraud” and “obstructing” during the vote, rejected the results.
“We did not endorse the results because they are skewed. The electoral and pre-electoral context was not favorable, especially for us,” party spokesman Promise Mkwananzi told AFP.
“We cannot accept the results,” he said. The Electoral Commission acknowledged that less than a quarter of polling stations in Harare opened on time on Wednesday.
The opposition was counting on a desire for change, fueled by rampant corruption and shortages of gasoline, bread or medicine in an economy that had been stricken for twenty years.
Doubts of observers
Observers from the European Union, Southern Africa (SADC) and Commonwealth countries have unanimously questioned the smooth running of the electoral process this week.
They highlighted “serious problems” that marred the “regularity” and “transparency” of the ballot, as well as the violation of “many international standards” governing democratic elections.
Voters might not be found on the lists while others were intimidated at polling stations.
Observers also noted the authorities’ refusal to accredit certain foreign media and questioned the bias of local public media.
The vote nevertheless took place in a “calm and peaceful” context, they noted.
The electoral campaign in Zimbabwe, which had been led with an iron fist by the hero of the liberation Robert Mugabe, dismissed in 2017 by a coup, was marked by a repression without nuance of the opposition.
A “seriously flawed electoral process”
The CCC denounced the ban on dozens of meetings and the arrests of opponents, including in private homes, for “illegal assembly”, in a country already overwhelmed by a long history of irregular elections.
Before the election, Human Rights Watch had already pinpointed a “seriously flawed electoral process”.
“The elections were marred by irregularities and aggrieved Zimbabweans and the Citizens’ Coalition for Change have a good basis to seek justice,” said political expert Rejoice Ngwenya, interviewed by AFP.
In 2018, Mr. Mnangagwa, successor to Mugabe, was narrowly elected (50.8%). The army fired on demonstrators two days following the election, killing six. Mr. Chamisa, then already his opponent, had challenged the result before being dismissed by the courts.
Zanu-PF also won a majority in Parliament, winning 136 of the 210 seats directly allocated by voters once morest 73 for the CCC. Sixty have yet to be awarded on a proportional system.
With AFP
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