After a tense election marked by major dysfunctions, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, was re-elected for a second term. The results, formalized 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 due 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, an opposition stronghold.
The CCC, which had previously denounced “fraud” and “obstruction” during 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’ found
The presidential party, Zanu-PF, also won a majority in parliament, winning 136 of the 210 seats directly allocated by voters compared to 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 unanimously questioned the smooth running of the electoral process this week. They pointed to “serious problems” that marred the “regularity” and “transparency” of the ballot, as well as the violation of “numerous international standards” governing democratic elections.
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 was nonetheless conducted in a “calm and peaceful” environment, 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, dismissed 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 assembly”, in a country already burdened by a long history of elections marred by irregularities.
Prior to the poll, 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 good basis to seek justice,” political expert Rejoice Ngwenya said in an interview with 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 justice.
