Zimbabwe's electoral commission said on Tuesday there was
no rigging or cheating in the first national election since the end of Robert
Mugabe's nearly four-decade rule.
ZEC chair Priscilla Chigumba told reporters in Harare that
vote counting was complete in most provinces and the first results would be
announced from 3pm.
As well as electing a president, Zimbabweans were voting
for 210 members of parliament and more than 9,000 councillors.
Final results are due by 4 August. Chigumba warned against
premature announcements of the results of Monday's election.
So far, the commission had received returns from four
provinces and was awaiting results from the remaining six.
Chigumba said ZEC had received returns from Masvingo,
Midlands, Harare and Bulawayo. She added that an average 1 percent of voters
had been turned away for various reasons.
Chigumba warned candidates and other stakeholders to desist
from prematurely announcing the results.
“The commission would like to urge Zimbabweans to be
patient as we wait for results. All stakeholders are reminded from announcing
results as that is the prerogative of the commission,” she said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader
Nelson Chamisa said on his official Twitter feed his party had collected
results from more than 10,000 polling stations, which showed the MDC had done
exceedingly well and was ready to form the next government.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa later tweeted that
the ruling party was receiving "extremely positive" information from
their representatives.
Mnangagwa said on Twitter that he was delighted by the high
voter turnout, which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission put at 75 percent.
- Additional reporting Reuters
0 comments:
Post a Comment