[ad_1]
Harare – The polls opened this morning at 7 am in Zimbabwe, and the vote should be closed at 7 pm
Early observations suggest a high voter turnout in the first post-Mugabe election, with ruling party president and candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition coalition leader Nelson Chamisa
. are strongholds of opposition, that the long queues moved too slowly, which raises fears of a repetition of the contested elections of 2002 that saw the polls close before thousands of people could vote
. Priscilla Chigumba, president of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), said the poll had started in most polling stations, calmly and on schedule, and that in the afternoon, wide participation rates had been recorded. It was recorded in 90% of 10,985.
Chamisa voted in Kuwadzana, a poor suburb of Harare where he has been a member for the last 18 years. After voting, Chamisa said his victory was earned in advance.
"We have already won this election, I am only here to confirm that we are ready to lead, we are ready to govern, we are ready for a new Zimbabwe," said Chamisa.
Chamisa was denounced to the police by the electoral commission on Sunday, who said that a press conference held that day violated the electoral act. banned the campaign the day before the vote.
Chamisa rejected the allegation, and said that the ZEC perpetuated his prejudice against him because he misinterpreted the law, adding that Mnangagwa had also sent messages to his followers the same day but no report.
"They do not know the law, they'll get the law, they're very, very, very wrong about the law, so I'm not interested, I mean, they're just perpetuating their bias. offer in the name of Mnangagwa who panics, "he said.
Mnangagwa voted with his family in his home town of Kwekwe in the Midlands Province. After voting, he said the country is living a democracy never seen before.
He said that Mugabe – who supported Sunday Chamisa at an extraordinary press conference – has the right to express his opinion. President Mnangagwa also said that he would continue to regularly engage the former president as a Zimbabwean citizen.
Before going to vote, Mnangagwa had posted on facebook: "Let's all vote today with peace in our hearts, let's all be respectful, tolerant and love each other. no matter who we support, we are all brothers and sisters, we are a people, with a dream and a destiny, we will sink or swim together. "
President Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe for 37 years, voted at Highfield, Harare. He arrived at the polling station with his wife Grace and his daughter Bona with songs of "Gushungo, gushungo", a reference to his traditional totem.
In Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo, another presidential candidate Thokozane Khupe, a leader of the dissident faction of the MDC said that she was confident of victory but expressed her concern that the queues of vote advance at a snail pace.
She said that although she had not taken much time to vote in the older township of Bokwayo A senior opposition official and attorney, David Coltart, said that "there is no time to vote in the older township of Bokwayo. he feared double voting and a possible repetition of the 2002 presidential election, when thousands of people were deprived of their right to vote when the polls closed. vote.
"The turnout has been very high, the queues are moving very slowly, I've been in the queue for over three hours now. Is not a strategy to discourage urban voting in favor of the rural vote.Also, the ink that they use is not indelible, we see that some people can vote twice, but it is a peaceful poll that is positive, "he said.
Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn The Union Election Observation Mission in Zimbabwe told reporters that voter turnout was high.
"Until now, we are trying to gather information about areas where we are deployed, professionally managed." It is our conclusion " , he said. "I think it's clear that when you see the queues, the turnout is so high."
[ad_2]
Source link
