In an interview with his country’s media yesterday, South
Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said the SADC region and United Nations
Secretary General Antonio Guterres, detest violence in all its forms, and
called for peace in Zimbabwe.
“Violence is one of those reactions that we abhor and want
to avoid. And the Secretary-General of the United Nations has made the same
call and so do we,” said President Ramaphosa.
“Violence must be avoided at all costs.
“Elections are processes that are always either disputed or
accepted, and when they are disputed, there are always channels, in every
country, to challenge the outcome of the elections and we want that to always
be done on a peaceful basis.”
President Ramaphosa said it was important to wait until all
processes underway in Zimbabwe were completed before people made unnecessary
remarks.
In Zimbabwe, High Court judges preside over Electoral
Courts which deal with petitions for the Parliamentary elections, with very
tight deadlines for submitting the petitions and deciding the issue, and the
Constitutional Court, again with tight deadlines for submitting a petition and
for making a decision, deals with the Presidential poll.
President Ramaphosa said he had sent his congratulations to
President Mnangagwa following his re-election, on the basis of the declaration
of results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
In its congratulatory statement, China’s deputy director of
information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr Wang Wenbin, said
as a friend to Zimbabwe, they have been closely following the general elections
in Harare.
He said at Zimbabwe’s invitation, China sent an observer
mission there, which believes the elections were held in a peaceful and orderly
fashion with active participation by the people.
“We have noted the result released by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission and extend congratulations to President Mnangagwa,” said
Mr Wang. “We stand ready to work with the new Government to bring our two
countries’ comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to new heights.”
Mr Wang called on all parties to put the people’s interests
first and resolve any differences properly through legal means.
“China adheres to the principle of non-interference in
other countries’ internal affairs. We respect the Zimbabwe people’s choice,
wish the country continued stability after the election and greater progress in
pursuing national development and prosperity,” he said.
South Africa and China’s remarks come after CCC leader Mr
Nelson Chamisa has promised to unleash violence so as to grab the leadership of
the country.
Addressing the media this week, Mr Chamisa said he will not
wait until 2028 to try to become Zimbabwe’s president.
But police have said they have adequate machinery to deal
with any trouble-causers who may want to unseat a democratically elected
Government.
Yesterday, CCC deputy spokesperson Mr Gift Siziba said they
wanted fresh elections, despite the fact that all those who won in National
Assembly and local authority elections have been celebrating their victories,
achieved under similar electoral circumstances.
Some of the CCC winners such as Ms Fadzayi Mahere, who won
the Mt Pleasant National Assembly seat, have since congratulated voters for
voting for her. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment