Mnangagwa calls for unity

Incumbent president wins Zimbabwe election

President Emmerson Mnangagwa called on Friday for Zimbabwe to unite behind him after he was declared winner of national elections, but the opposition leader questioned the outcome and demanded “proper and verified” results be released.

The election, the first since the army removed 94-year-old Robert Mugabe from office in November, passed off relatively smoothly on the day, raising hopes of a break from a history of disputed and violent polls.

But an army crackdown on opposition supporters in which six people were killed and opposition claims that the vote was rigged revealed the deep rifts in Zimbabwean society that developed during Mugabe’s four decades in power, when the security forces became a byword for heavy handedness.

After three days of claims and counterclaims, 75-year-old Mnangagwa secured victory. He polled 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for 40-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced in the early hours of Friday morning.

“This is a new beginning. Let us join hands, in peace, unity and love, and together build a new Zimbabwe for all,” Mnangagwa said on Twitter.

Mnangagwa received 50.8 percent of the vote, just edging over the 50 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff.

The delays in announcing the presidential results and the narrow margin of victory fueled the opposition accusations of rigging.

He now faces the challenge of persuading the international community that the army crackdown and lapses in the election process will not derail his promise of political and economic reforms needed to fix a moribund economy.

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, current chair of the Southern African Development Community, called Zimbabweans to accept the poll results.

The streets of the capital Harare were quiet early on Friday, with traffic thinner than usual.

Water cannon and anti-riot police remained outside the MDC offices, a reminder of the clashes between opposition and the security forces this week.

Local newspaper Herald hailed the election as reflecting the will of the majority and admonished the opposition.

“Unfortunately in Zimbabwe we have allowed to grow and flourish a culture of rabble-rousing and sham protests of alleged rigging whenever a party loses that this has become a default mode in the opposition,” a Herald editorial said.