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ZIMBABWE-VOTE-WRAP-UPDATE
Army clear streets as Zimbabwe awaits election results
HARARE, Aug 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Soldiers and police cleared the streets of
central Harare on Thursday as the Zimbabwean authorities came under mounting
pressure to release results of presidential elections after a deadly
crackdown on protesters.
Landmark elections — the first since autocrat Robert Mugabe was ousted
last year — turned bloody on Wednesday when troops opened fire on
demonstrations against alleged electoral fraud, leaving three dead and
prompting an international outcry.
The government accused the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
opposition party of inciting the unrest and vowed to enforce a security
clampdown.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday said he wanted an independent
investigation into the killings, and that he sought to settle differences
“peacefully”.
On Thursday, soldiers were on guard outside the headquarters of the
ruling ZANU-PF party, while armoured personnel carriers, water cannon trucks
and police anti-riot vans took position outside the MDC headquarters.
Soldiers brandishing assault rifles and police shouted at pedestrians and
traders to leave central Harare, AFP witnessed.
“I wasn’t sure whether it’s safe to come to work. We had to consult among
ourselves,” said one worker who declined to give his name.
In a late-night press conference on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister
Obert Mpofu warned further protests would not be tolerated.
“The opposition… are testing our resolve and I think they are making a
big mistake,” he said.
The MDC said the army had opened fire “for no apparent reason,” killing
unarmed civilians.
The presidential election race has pitted 75-year-old Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s
former ally in ZANU-PF, against the MDC’s leader, Nelson Chamisa, 35 years
his junior.
– A rigged count? –
In official results from the parliamentary election, also held on
Monday, ZANU-PF won easily — suggesting Mnangagwa would be on course to
retain the presidency.
But the MDC has said it won the elections outright and accused the
government and Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) of rigging the count.
ZEC said the final results of the presidential race may not be known
until Saturday.
Monday’s polls had been meant to turn the page on years of violence-
marred elections and brutal repression of dissent after Mugabe’s 37-year rule
was ended by a brief military takeover in November.
But the mood spiralled into anger as MDC supporters rallied in the city,
chanting against the government and burning tyres in the streets.
“It’s disappointing — the government’s reaction only made things worse.
It was heavy-handed,” trader Timie Manuwere, 37, told AFP.
“But I didn’t expect things to really change much with the elections. It
was highly unlikely these guys would just give up power after eight months.”
Mnangagwa had promised a free and fair vote after the military ushered
him to power when Mugabe was forced to resign.
A credible and peaceful vote was meant to end Zimbabwe’s international
isolation and attract foreign investment to revive the shattered economy.
Election observers from the Commonwealth issued a statement Thursday to
“denounce the excessive use of force against unarmed civilians.”
Before the violence, European Union observers declared they found an “un-
level playing field and lack of trust” in the election process. It called for
transparency in the release of results.
– History of election violence –
The UN and former colonial power Britain expressed concern over the
violence and urged “restraint”.
Under Mugabe, elections were often marred by fraud and deadly violence.
Of 210 parliamentary seats, 207 have been counted with ZANU-PF winning
144 and the MDC Alliance just 61.
Chamisa said the results were fraudulent.
“We have won this one together. No amount of results manipulation will
alter your will,” he tweeted before the army was deployed on Wednesday.
ZEC chairwoman Priscilla Chigumba, a high court judge, has flatly denied
allegations of bias and rejected accusations of rigging.
Mugabe, 94, voted in Harare on Monday alongside his wife Grace after he
stunned observers by calling for voters to reject ZANU-PF, his former party.
His attempts to position Grace as his successor are widely thought to
have driven the military to intervene and install their favoured candidate,
Mnangagwa, in power.
Mnangagwa was the clear election front-runner, benefitting from tacit
military support and control of state resources. But Chamisa, a lawyer and
pastor, sought to tap into the youth and urban vote.
Mnangagwa was allegedly involved in violence and intimidation during the
2008 elections when then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of
the run-off after attacks claimed the lives of at least 200 of his
supporters.
If no presidential candidate wins at least 50 percent of the ballots
cast in the first round, a run-off vote is scheduled for September 8.
BSS/AFP/RY/1602 hrs