HARRARE (ZIMBABWE): Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has won a second term in office, election officials said on Saturday, but the opposition rejected the result of a vote that international observers said did not meet democratic standards.
Mnangagwa, 80, won 52.6 percent of the vote against 44 percent for main challenger Nelson Chamisa, 45, according to official results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
“Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo of ZANU-PF is declared the duly elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” ZEC chairperson Justice Chigumba told reporters.
Zimbabweans went to the polls on Wednesday and Thursday to elect a president and legislature, in an election marred by delays prompted by opposition accusations of rigging and voter suppression.
The presidential results were greeted with celebratory cheers from several supporters of the ruling party at the venue of the press conference.
But Promise Mkwananzi, spokesperson for Chamisa’s Civic Coalition for Change (CCC), said the party had not signed off on the final result, which he described as “fake”.
“We cannot accept the results,” he told the news agency, adding that the party would soon announce its next step.
The vote was watched across southern Africa as a test of support for Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF, whose 43-year rule has been battered by a moribund economy and allegations of authoritarianism.
Foreign poll observers said on Friday that the election did not meet regional and international standards.
Observer missions from the European Union, the Commonwealth and the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) cited a number of problems, including the banning of opposition rallies, problems with the voter list, biased coverage by state media and voter intimidation.
“The election was full of irregularities and affected the people of Zimbabwe,” said politician Rejoice Ngwenya.
“The CCC has good reasons to go to court to challenge the outcome.
ZEC’s Chigumba said Mnangagwa got more than 2.3 million votes, Chamisa more than 1.9 million.
By winning more than half of the votes cast, the president avoided a runoff. Voter turnout was 69 percent.
Nicknamed “The Crocodile” for his ruthlessness, Mnangagwa first came to power in a 2017 coup that ousted late ruler Robert Mugabe.
A year later, he narrowly defeated Chamisa for the first time in a poll that the opposition leader denounced as fraudulent and which was followed by a deadly crackdown.
Voting had to stretch into an unprecedented second day this week due to delays in the printing of ballot papers in some key constituencies including the opposition stronghold of Harare.
Chamisa pointed at the delays as “a clear case of voter suppression, a classic case of stone age… rigging”.
A white British colony called Rhodesia, the country broke away from London in 1965, gained independence in 1980 after a long guerrilla war, and renamed itself Zimbabwe.
But under Mugabe, its first leader, the nascent democracy spiralled into hardline rule and economic decline, with hyperinflation wiping out savings and discouraging investment.
The opposition hoped to gain advantage as corruption, high inflation, unemployment and entrenched poverty have the majority discontented.
But ZANU-PF was also declared the winner in the parliamentary race, securing 136 of the 210 seats up for grabs under the first pass system, compared to 73 for the CCC. One seat was not allocated due to the death of the candidate.
Another 60 are reserved for women appointed under the party’s system of proportional representation.
