Mnangagwa re-elected Zimbabwe president as opposition rejects result
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Mnangagwa re-elected Zimbabwe president with 52.6 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for challenger Nelson Chamisa
Mnangagwa re-elected Zimbabwe president with 52.6 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for challenger Nelson Chamisa.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has won a second and final term in office in an outcome rejected by the opposition and questioned by observers.
Mnangagwa, who took over from longtime leader Robert Mugabe after a 2017 army coup, was widely expected to secure re-election despite the country’s continuing economic crisis, with analysts saying the contest was heavily skewed in favour of the ZANU-PF party, which has ruled the country since independence and the end of white minority rule in 1980.
Mnangagwa won 52.6 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for Nelson Chamisa, his main challenger, according to official results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) late on Saturday.
“Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo of ZANU-PF party is declared duly elected president of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” ZEC chairwoman Justice Chigumba told journalists.
The elections were marred by delays that fuelled opposition accusations of rigging and voter suppression but a small group of ruling party supporters celebrated the outcome on Saturday.
But Promise Mkwananzi, a spokesman for the Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said the party had not signed the final tally, which he described as “false”.
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“We cannot accept the results,” he told the AFP news agency, adding the party would soon announce its next move.
Foreign poll monitors said on Friday that the elections had failed to meet regional and international standards.
The head of the European Union’s observer mission on Friday said the vote took place in a “climate of fear”.
Southern African Regional Bloc SADC’s mission noted issues including voting delays, issues with the voter roll, bans on opposition rallies, and biased state media coverage.
“The elections were fraught with irregularities and aggrieved the people of Zimbabwe,” political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said.
“The CCC has good grounds to go to court and challenge the outcome”.
ZANU-PF denies it has an unfair advantage or seeks to influence the outcome of elections through rigging.
Chigumba of ZEC said 80-year-old Mnangagwa had won more than 2.3 million votes, while 45-year-old Chamisa had more than 1.9 million.
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