2023-08-27 01:41:04
Supporters of President Emmerson Mnangagwa celebrating his victory, in Harare, Zimbabwe, August 26, 2023. TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI / AP
After a tense election marked by major dysfunctions, the Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, aged 80, was re-elected for a second term. The results, made official on Saturday August 26, were immediately rejected by the party of its main rival.
Mnangagwa won 52.6% of the vote against 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.
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.
Read also: Presidential election in Zimbabwe: the head of state clings to power, the opposition cries fraud
The CCC, which had already denounced « frauds » and « hindrances » in the vote, rejected the results. “We have not endorsed the results because they are skewed. The electoral and pre-electoral context was not favorable, especially for us”party spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “We cannot accept the results”he said.
“Serious problems” observed
The presidential party, Zanu-PF, also won a majority in parliament, winning 136 of the 210 seats directly allocated by voters against 73 for the CCC. A seat was not allocated due to the death of a candidate. Sixty others reserved for women have yet to be allocated according to a proportional system by party.
Observers from the European Union, Southern Africa (SADC) and Commonwealth countries have unanimously questioned the smooth running of the electoral process this week. They emphasized to “serious problems” having tainted the “regularity” and the “transparency” of the poll, as well as the violation of “many international standards” governing democratic elections.
Read also: Presidential election in Zimbabwe: the disappointed hopes of the post-Mugabe period
Voters could 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 context “calm and peaceful”, they noted. The Electoral Commission acknowledged that less than a quarter of polling stations in Harare opened on time on Wednesday.
Dozens of meetings banned
The electoral campaign in Zimbabwe, which had been led with an iron fist by the hero of the liberation Robert Mugabe, ousted in 2017 by a coup d’etat, was marked by a repression without nuance of the opposition. The CCC denounced the ban on dozens of meetings and the arrests of opponents, including in private homes for “illegal meeting”in a country already burdened by a long history of flawed elections.
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Before the election, Human Rights Watch had already singled out a “seriously flawed electoral process”. “The elections were marred by irregularities and aggrieved Zimbabweans and the Citizens’ Coalition for Change have a strong basis to seek justice”said political expert Rejoice Ngwenya, interviewed by AFP.
In 2018, Mr. Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s successor, was narrowly elected (50.8%). The army fired on demonstrators two days after the election, killing six. Mr. Chamisa, already his opponent in the presidential election, had contested the result before being dismissed by the courts.
Read also: In Zimbabwe, a presidential election in a tense political and economic context
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