Zimbabwe today chooses its next president at the polls on a day without serious incidents despite the delay in the opening of some polling stations, after an electoral campaign marked by the economic crisis that the country is going through and reports of repression against the opposition.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, the leader of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which is seeking its second five-year term, cast its vote in the town of Kwekwe (centre).
“This time there was more awareness. There was a huge turnout, after more than 6.6 million people registered to vote. In the last election we had around five million voters,” Mnangagwa said at the exit.
“If I thought that I am not going to win, I would be a fool. All of us who participate in this race want to win,” he added, after being asked by journalists for a forecast of the electoral results.
For his part, Mnangagwa’s main rival, Nelson Chamisa, 45, who heads the opposition Coalition of Citizens for Change (CCC), lamented the delays in the opening of many polling stations, as well as other alleged irregularities.
“We are disappointed that the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) has let the citizens down,” the opponent said after voting in Kuwadzana, a Harare neighborhood.
According to Chamisa, his party has not yet received the complete voter census and the ballots to vote for his party have not arrived at many polling stations, two problems that international observers have lamented in recent days.
“There is going to be a new leader, a new president, and a new government. We are winning these elections. And they (the Zimbabwean government) know it. That’s why they are panicking,” he said.
This morning, the head of the European Union (EU) observation mission, Italian MEP Fabio Castaldo, told EFE that there were “significant delays” in around 30% of the voting centers, mostly caused by for lack of ballots.
The ZEC, which has admitted that there were delays due to the distribution of ballots in the provinces of Harare and Bulawayo, indicated that these centers will remain open after the official closing time, at 19:00 (17:00 GMT).
The results of these elections are expected to be known within five days.
Although eleven candidates are running for the Presidency, only Mnangagwa – in office since the 2017 military coup against the late Robert Mugabe – and Chamisa lead the race.
If none of the applicants achieves more than 50% of the votes, a second round will be held between the two most voted on October 2, as established by country law.
Zimbabweans go to the polls concerned about energy shortages and the high cost of living coupled with a severe inflation crisis, with the local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, losing 86% of its value between January and June.
The elections are held after an electoral campaign with complaints from human rights organizations about the growing persecution of dissidents in the country, as well as the politically motivated prosecution of opposition leaders.
