The last has not been heard of the just concluded election in
Zimbabwe as riot police on Friday chased away journalists waiting for a
news conference by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.
The riot policemen were shouting “out, out,” a Reuters witness said.
Chamisa has questioned the outcome of Monday’s presidential election,
in which he lost out to President Emmerson Mnangagwa from the ruling
Zanu-PF party.
Chamisa on Friday slammed the “fake results” of the country’s
historic election that returned incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa
to power.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s “scandal of releasing unverified
fake results is regrettable,” the 40-year-old leader of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) said on Twitter.
“ZEC denied our election agent access to results before announcement.
ZEC must release proper and verified results endorsed by parties,”
Chamisa tweeted.
Results released overnight Thursday gave Mnangagwa 50.8 percent of the vote and Chamisa 44.3 per cent.
While Mnangagwa welcomed the results and called for peace, Chamisa rejected the outcome outright.
“The level of opaqueness, truth deficiency, moral decay and values deficit is baffling,” the MDC leader said.
During the televised presentation of the results, Chamisa’s spokesman
attempted to give a speech but was heckled and booed offstage by locals
who said they wanted to hear from the commission.
Harare – which voted heavily for Chamisa – was quiet Friday with no signs of celebration.
There had been an uneasy calm in the city since a brutal crackdown on
protesters by security forces on Monday, in which six people were
killed.
The poll was the first in almost four decades without longtime leader Robert Mugabe on the ballot.
Mugabe, 94, had grown increasingly unpopular for his repressive rule and the country’s economic malaise.
He was ousted in a military coup in November and replaced by erstwhile ally Mnangagwa.
“This is a new beginning. Let us join hands, in peace, unity and
love, and together build a new Zimbabwe for all!” Mnangagwa tweeted
after winning.
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Saturday, August 4, 2018
Police disperse journalists waiting for Zimbabwe opposition leader
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