Results of ‘fair’ Zim election trickle in

HARARE: The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said yesterday it was “confident elections were not rigged”, after the country’s first national polls since the ousting of former president Robert Mugabe.

The elections were a jubilant, and by most accounts transparent, affair and were the first in almost four decades without Mugabe on the ballot.

The ZEC put voter turnout at an impressive 75% and had started slowly announcing results by constituency in the afternoon.

But the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidate, Nelson Chamisa, 40, was already claiming victory, tweeting “Winning resoundingly”.

“We now have results from the majority of the over 10000 polling stations. We’ve done exceedingly well,” he said.

“Awaiting the ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next (government).”

There was a celebratory atmosphere outside the party’s offices in Harare by the evening, with locals drinking and dancing.

A poll just before the election showed Chamisa almost neck-andneck with incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa – the ruling party candidate who replaced Mugabe after he was ousted in a November military coup.

Mnangagwa, whose promise to bring foreign investment back to the economically ailing country is dependent on being seen to have held free and fair elections, was more circumspect yesterday.

“I am delighted by the high turnout and citizen engagement so far. The information from our reps on the ground is extremely positive! Waiting patiently for official results as per the constitution,” he tweeted.

If no candidate garners more than 50%, a run-off will be held in September, a scenario dreaded by many Zimbabweans who remember the violence ahead of a scheduled run-off in 2008.

In the lead-up to Monday’s polls, the MDC repeatedly said the system was rigged, claiming irregularities with the voters roll.

David Coltart, a former MDC government minister and human rights lawyer, said yesterday that he was concerned “about why information appears to suddenly have dried up”.

By 5pm local time, results in only seven of hundreds of constituencies had been released by the ZEC, and were continuing to trickle out.

Tendai Biti, a senior Zimbabwean opposition politician, accused the commission of deliberately delaying.

Biti said it was evident Chamisa had won the election and that the ZEC was “deliberately delaying the announcement of results so that they can tamper with them.” – dpa/ African News Agency (ANA)