Wed 23 August 2023:
Zimbabweans head to the polls on Wednesday in presidential and legislative elections following a campaign period marred by violence and fears of vote manipulation.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, is seeking re-election and campaigned on promises of delivering growth and new infrastructure.
Mnangagwa’s main rival for the top job is Nelson Chamisa, 45, who leads the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party.
The CCC has complained that its members were targeted for arrest, its campaign events blocked and that it received little or no airtime on national television.
Voting has started in Zimbabwe’s election where more than 12,300 polling stations were scheduled to open at 7am (05:00 GMT) and are set to close at 7pm (17:00 GMT).
Approximately 6.6 million Zimbabweans have registered to vote in a population of more than 15 million.
Meanwhile, government spokesman Nick Mangwana said authorities had confidence in the electoral process and believed things would go peacefully.
“I just wish every Zimbabwean would accept the choice of the Zimbabwean people,” he told AFP.
Diana Office, a woman in her thirties, said she arrived two hours before polls were due to open to avoid queues.
“It’s important for me to vote,” she said. Asked if she was hopeful things would improve after the elections, she laughed, resting her head on the back of a friend queueing in front of her.
“No,” she said. “I’m just here to exercise my right only.”
How voting works
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seeking re-election after a first term. This election will also determine the makeup of the 350-seat parliament and close to 2,000 local council positions.
Vote counting will start as soon as polling stations close, and parliamentary results are expected to trickle in over the course of Thursday morning. The presidential result is expected to come later, though well ahead of a five-day deadline.
To win the presidency, a candidate must get more than 50 percent of the vote. If there is no outright winner, a run-off between the top two candidates will be held on October 2.
Parliamentary and local council candidates only need a simple majority of votes cast.
Political analysts say Zimbabwe’s ongoing economic crisis could push the vote in favour of the opposition if the election is free and fair.
President Mnangagwa is seeking re-election following a first term in office during which inflation rocketed, and currency shortages and sky-high unemployment made life a misery for everyday Zimbabweans, pushing people further into poverty.
But analysts also say the ruling ZANU-PF, which has been in power for more than four decades, has an unfair advantage as it wields control over the police and other key state institutions.
US concerned by political violence
The United States voiced concern about the conduct of Zimbabwe’s elections on the eve of voting and called on all sides to commit to a free and violence-free election day.
“We call on the government of Zimbabwe and all political leaders to ensure the elections are free of violence and coercion,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Tuesday.
“We are concerned by recent actions leading up to the elections, including political violence and legislation that curtails human rights and freedoms enshrined in Zimbabwe’s constitution,” he said.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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