Harare: Seventy per cent of 5.5 million Zimbabweans registered their votes in the first election since the ouster of former leader Robert Mugabe. Officials are counting votes a day after the people peacefully cast their votes in a process closely watched by international monitors, who have yet to announce whether the election was free and fair. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says it will release the final tally within five days.
The main fight is between President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, who took over after Mugabe stepped down last year, and 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who became head of the main opposition party a few months ago. Opinion polls gave Mnangagwa, who heads the ruling Zanu-PF party, a narrow lead over Chamisa, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader. The official result has to be announced within five days but there will likely be an indication of the outcome.
The opposition has raised concerns about delays in the voting in its stronghold urban areas, and it has warned it will organize peaceful protests if the elections are thought to be flawed. One voter says that "they may be peaceful but we don't know how credible they are.” The vote in Zimbabwe's major cities is crucial to the opposition while rural areas traditionally back the ruling party. That can benefit President Mnangagwa. Earlier, he has urged the people to remain peaceful, saying: "We are one people, with one dream and one destiny. We will sink or swim together."
