The election in Zimbabwe – – First choice free since the millennium

The election which is being held today is considered the first free choice after the resignation of the president in November 2017.

There will be three elections in one, when the new president will be elected, the new national assembly and the local elections.

For the first time in nearly four decades, the name of Robert Mugabe is not on the electoral map He has led the country with the iron fist since 1980 until the end of the war. at his retirement last year.

International observers and democracy activists are still skeptical about whether it is really a free choice.

A history of politically motivated persecution and torture threatens the spirit of the 5.6 million people who go to the polls in Zimbabwe.

Last year, the current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, also known as "Crocodile," was killed

– this is the # 39, one of the choices we have had in Zimbabwe since the beginning of the millennium. N. Tjønneland of the Christian Michelsen Institute of Dagbladet

He points out that, although the election is not necessarily exempt from irregularities, it nonetheless indicates that it will reflect the will of the people.

– What The most exciting will be when the result will be available and if there will be a reelection. This will be held on September 8th, says Tjønneland

The article continues during the advertisement

Because they must have at least 50% of the votes if a president is to be elected initially, he is great

For reasons of democracy and for the reputation of the country, hundreds of international observers from, among others, the EU and the United States have been deployed in Zimbabwe to monitor the elections.

Tjønneland points out that it's hard to get massive deception with so many observers – but it's possible to cheat

– It's hard to steal a whole choice like they did it before, says

Despite general optimism for a free and democratic election, they expressed concern that many voters in rural areas would be harassed, reports Reuters.

– There have been cases of harassment of voters in the countryside, but the atmosphere in the cities has been very meritorious, according to Tjønneland.

Many Democratic activists were skeptical about the freedom of historic elections

They point to the lack of transparency of the electoral commission, the presence of the military in many parts of the country and the attention government media on the government party

Tjønneland A distorted coverage of the government party, it is said that they also covered the opposition to a certain extent.

The division of voters lists sensitized several media and was highlighted as further evidence of the government's attempt to manipulate result.

With 23 candidates in the election, all names will be listed alphabetically. Then the current president Mnangagwa is a little further down the list than opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa

– Then they took a shortcut and split the list of two for Mnangagwa to finish at the top on the other, says Tjønneland. Other critics, especially in the list of those who will have access to the vote and the electoral structure.

Chamisa, a lawyer in Zimbabwe, told Reuters that the country's electoral commission is biased because they include lists of both the dead and the children as citizens with the right to vote.

The former president could not resist the light the day before the election stating that he had not voted for his own party, writes Al Jazeera

– I can not vote for those who have pint and bother me and I took power illegally. I'm going to vote for one of the other 22 candidates, but the list is long, said Mugabe.

He also suggests that he will vote for the opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa in the MDC Alliance party, not for his own account. Government Party Zanu-PF

It is the first political statement that he has had since his retirement in November 2000.

Come to the eye Watch

L & # 39 political analyst Eldred Masunungure stresses Reuters that achieving the status of free and democratic choice is essential for the country.

– The conclusion was the occasion for Zimbabwe to resume after a longer crisis, Masunungure said.

Whether the election is considered free, it depends on the eye that looks:

– If you ask a Zimbabwean who has already made choices, they will tell you that Is the best that they have seen for a long time. If you compare it to the international gold standard, it will be problematic, he says