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The first round is barely over as the differences appear. The current head of state, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and his main opponent, Nelson Chamisa, announce themselves in first place after the first round of the presidential election. The first official results should be unveiled on Tuesday.
Zimbabweans voted Monday to elect their new President of the Republic. And the day after this election, the two main presidential candidates announced … poll leaders. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the current head of state, congratulated himself for being ahead, as was his opponent, Nelson Chamisa. The stakes are high in this country where these elections are the first since the fall of Robert Mugabe, last November, after four decades in power. While the official results have not yet been released, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) assured that the elections went well.
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" We are absolutely confident that there is no fraud, "said Priscilla Chigumba, chair of the commission. But the institution is very controversial, even pointed at by the opposition. The ZEC is criticized for being biased during the elections held under Mugabe where violence and fraud were legion. And Monday's presidential election should not ease tensions in the country. On the one hand, Chamisa, at the head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), claimed on Tuesday a "brilliant victory". He even said he was ready to "form the next government".
At Mnangagwa, the sound of the bell is quite different. The boss of Zanu-PF implied that he was in the lead. "The information obtained by my representatives on the ground is extremely positive," assured the current head of state. After taking advantage of his party's coup to take Mugabe's place, Mnangagwa wants to legitimize his power through this election. Given largely in the lead a few weeks ago in the polls, he saw his lead to diminish until the date of the vote.
Aware of the significance of the event, Zimbabweans flocked to the voting booths en masse. Nearly 75% of them voted on Monday. Despite his disagreement with Chamisa as a result of the vote, Mnangagwa had not found it superfluous to recall, in advance, that these elections would be "free and fair."
European observers to monitor the election
For proof Western observers have been invited to watch this election. This appropriate solution to ensure the proper conduct of elections is to give credit to the vote. Elmar Brok, who heads EU observers, had not reported any violent incidents on Monday late afternoon. Although he noted "a total disorganization" of voting in two poor neighborhoods of Harare, the capital, while "everything went well in more favored neighborhoods." The electoral commission is expected to announce the first results on Tuesday. If no candidate obtains the absolute majority of the votes, a second round will be organized on September 8th. What to foreshadow an eventful summer, within this African enclave.
(With agencies)
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