Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has claimed his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), collected results from more than 10,000 polling stations, which showed he had done exceedingly well and he is ready to form the next government.
Polls have closed in Zimbabwe historic general election, and millions of citizens are currently awaiting the official outcome to be announced. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said official results will be announced in five days.
He and 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa were the main contenders in Monday’s election, which was the first since long-ruling Robert Mugabe was removed in a bloodless coup last November.
If confirmed, Mugabe’s former party, ZANU–PF, will be out of office for the first time since Zimbabwe became independent in 1980.
06:53 updates: Several observer groups say it is too early to call victory
Several observer groups are collecting results from 10,985 polling posts in parallel with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), but they are not allowed to release results before ZEC. A source at one group said it was too early to call a winner but it was looking “very close”.
06:44 updates: Experts warn ruling party Zanu-PF party will not go down without a fight
Despite Nelson Chamisa’s claims that his party MDC has won the election, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Derek Matyszak, claimed Zanu-PF is still well entrenched, powerful and militant in its political manoeuvres.
He said: “If it looks like the opposition party is winning, the state will simply shut down the results process. “If Chamisa looks like he is winning, we will likely not see those election results.
“Zimbabwe’s problems will continue whether Chamisa or Mnangagwa wins.” 06:32 updates: European Union observers warn about possible ‘shortcomings in the vote’ but claim participation was high
Previously-banned European Union election observers, which are present for the first time in years, claimed there was a huge amount of voting but also warned about possible shortcomings.
EU’s chief observer Elmar Brok told AFP: “There are shortcomings that we have to check. “We don’t know yet whether it was a pattern or whether it was a question of bad organisation in certain polling stations.”
The bloc is set to deliver a report on the conduct of the election on Wednesday. Mr Brok added: “Overall there was a huge amount of voting, especially young people, mostly in a very good atmosphere, generally peaceful, which is positive.”
06:11 am update: Nelson Chamisa announces victory on Twitter
Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa announced on Twitter that his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has removed from office Mugabe’s former party, ZANU–PF. He wrote: “Winning resoundingly…We now have results from the majority of the over 10 000 polling stations.
“We’ve done exceedingly well. “Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next government.”
Source: Express UK
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