Harare: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa was re-elected for a second and final term Saturday as results were announced much earlier than expected following a troubled vote in the southern African country. An opposition party spokesperson said within minutes of the results being announced that they would reject them as “hastily assembled without proper verification.”
Mnangagwa won 52.6 per cent of the vote, the Zimbabwe Election Commission said at a late-night announcement in the capital, Harare. Main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa won 44 per cent of the vote, the commission said. The result will likely be scrutinized after election observers from the European Union and African Union raised questions over the environment in the buildup to the vote and pointed to an atmosphere of intimidation against Chamisa’s supporters.
The election was due to be held on just one day, last Wednesday, but voting was extended to Thursday after delays with the printing of ballot papers.