Zimbabwe opposition claims election victory

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Europe

02:44

Zimbabwe's opposition MDC party on Tuesday claimed victory in the country's historic elections, setting the scene for a showdown with the ruling ZANU-PF that has held power since independence in 1980.

Senior MDC official Tendai Biti said party leader Nelson Chamisa had won the presidential race, and alleged that the authorities were delaying the publication of results.

"The results show beyond reasonable doubt that we have won the election and that the next president of Zimbabwe is Nelson Chamisa," Biti told a press conference at the party's headquarters in Harare.

Zimbabwe's former president Robert Mugabe casts his ballot in the general elections in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

"We are however seriously concerned about evidence of interference... there is a deliberate delay in announcing the results. This delay is totally unacceptable."

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, has also said he was confident of victory in Zimbabwe's first election since former leader Robert Mugabe was ousted in November after 37 years in power.

"The information from our reps on the ground is extremely positive! Waiting patiently for official results as per the constitution," Mnangagwa said on Twitter early Tuesday.

The rival claims pointed to a contested result, raising the prospect of competing fraud allegations and a possible run-off vote in September – required if no candidate wins at least 50 percent of ballots in the first round.

Observers check the tally of votes at a polling station for the general election in the suburb of Mbare of Zimbabwe's capital Harare, July 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

The estimated turnout was around 75 percent before polls closed on Monday evening after a peaceful day of voting.

Early results from the elections – presidential, parliamentary and local – are expected on Tuesday (local time), and full results are due by on Saturday.

At one polling station in the capital Harare, officials counted large piles of ballots using gas lanterns and candles late into the night on Monday.

If required, Zimbabwe's 5.6 million registered voters would be asked to return to the polls to vote in a presidential run-off on September 8.

Zimbabwe's election authority declared on Tuesday that the vote had been free of rigging – even though the count was not yet completed.

"We are absolutely confident there was no rigging... we at the Zimbabwean Election Commission will not steal (the people's) choice of leaders, we will not subvert their will," said ZEC chair Priscilla Chigumba.

Source(s): AFP