Zanu-PF wins majority in Zimbabwe parliament elections
ZIMBABWE - Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has won the majority of seats in parliament after sweeping rural constituencies by huge margins, official results show. The parliamentary outcome does not necessarily indicate voters’ choice of president, however. The result in the presidential vote – being contested by Zanu-PF president Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – is due by 4 August but expected sooner. Tensions are rising in the former British colony as opposition fears grow that the election count is being rigged. Monitors have warned of possible violence if the results are contested, and authorities are braced for protests. Millions of people voted peacefully on Monday in the first election since the army removed Robert Mugabe from power last year. Long queues formed outside polling stations and turnout was recorded at 75%. The latest results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed ZanuPF had won at least 109 seats, enough for a majority in the 210-seat lower house of parliament. With more results to be declared, the party has a chance of gaining the twothirds majority that would allow it to change the constitution at will. Chamisa’s MDC had won 41 seats. Analysts blamed divisions within the opposition for the low tally. Chamisa claimed in a tweet yesterday that the ZEC “seeks to release results to buy time & reverse the people’s presidential election victory”. He added: “The strategy is meant to prepare mentally to accept fake presidential results. We’ve more votes than ED . We won the popular vote & will defend it!”
The election pitted Chamisa, 40, a lawyer and pastor whose only previous experience of power was a stint as a minister in a coalition government several years ago, against Mnangagwa, 75, a longtime Mugabe aide and head of the ruling Zanu-PF party. Chamisa claimed on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly”, a claim repeated by senior officials over the course of the day. His supporters gathered at their party’s headquarters in the capital during the afternoon to celebrate victory despite the lack of official results. Police vehicles equipped with water cannon patrolled nearby. Obert Mpofu, the home minister, said the government was concerned by “high levels of incitement to violence ... by certain individuals and some political leaders who have declared themselves winners”. If no candidate wins more than half the votes in the presidential election, there will be a runoff in five weeks. Another possibility is negotiations to form a coalition government. The two presidential candidates represent dramatically different ideologies and political styles, as well as generations. Pre-election opinion polls gave Mnangagwa, a dour former spy chief known as “the Crocodile” for his reputation for ruthless cunning, a slim lead over Chamisa, a brilliant if sometimes wayward orator.
(The Guardian)