Zimbabwe’s electoral commission chairperson has said the first presidential results could be announced on Thursday, even as the EU observer mission warned that delays could negatively affect credibility for the vote.
Priscilla Chigumba, who was taking questions from journalists after announcing the final results of the National Assembly vote, explained that the commission has been overwhelmed by the unprecedented number of presidential candidates (23).
‘‘While all the results from the polling stations across the country are now available at the national tally centre, agents of all the 23 presidential candidates must verify all the V11 forms, before national tallying and announcement can be made,’‘ Chigumba explained.
Chigumba added that the results could be further delayed by the fact that some results that were posted outside polling stations have been disputed by some agents.
The main opposition party and ZESN, a domestic election monitor, had on Tuesday said one in five polling stations, more than 2000 in all, had not physically posted tallies on their doors, as required by law.
‘‘It depends on whether those who disagree with something would like to use legal remedies but sometime tomorrow, we should be able to advise you what time we can start announcing presidential election results,’‘ Chigumba said.
Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF has attained two-thirds majority in the National Assembly of parliament, which allows the party to change the constitution at will, official results showed.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF swept most rural constituencies by large margins while the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change won in urban centres.
Meanwhile the European Union observatory mission in Zimbabwe says while the 2018 presidential election was largely peaceful, use of state resources and delays by the electoral commission to relay presidential results could affect the credibility of the vote.
“The political climate has improved, (…) but unequal opportunities (between candidates), voter intimidation and lack of confidence in the electoral process have undermined the pre-electoral environment,” the EU denounced in a statement.
Releasing their preliminary report on Wednesday, the EU chief observer said they do not understand why Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission (ZEC) had not announced presidential results, more than 36 hours after polls closed on Monday.
‘‘It is imperative that the results process is credible and transparent, with a full breakdown by polling station so that confidence in the outcome can be assured,’‘ said Elmar Brok, EUEOM chief observer.
The EU mission also urged political parties to ‘await the final result and to remain peaceful throughout’.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC) has mobilised its supporters to torm the ZEC trally center, protesting what they describe as a ‘stolen election’.
A group of MDC voters believe the election has been stolen, they are demonstrating in downtown Harare and even marched to the ZEC results centre where police were standing guard. The presidential results have yet to be announced but ZANU-PF has the lead in terms of parly seats.
MDC’s leader Nelson Chamisa has said he believes the opposition won the presidential election against ruling party ZANU-PF’s candidate, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
ZANU-PF has already secured a majority in the National Assembly after 72% of results were announced on Wednesday morning.
The vote assessment by the EU, which is observing the election for the first time since 2002, is critical in determining whether Zimbabwe can earn the trust of the international community, which could help it trigger an economic revival.
Meanwhile, observers from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) bloc said on Wednesday, Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary vote was peaceful and orderly and opened the door to strengthen the country’s democracy.
The southern African nation held its first election since Robert Mugabe was forced to resign after a November de facto coup in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa were the main contenders for power.
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