?Zimbabwe's main opposition leader alleged on Sunday there had been “blatant and gigantic fraud” after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of another troubled election, with international observers reporting an atmosphere of intimidation against voters.
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The results were announced Saturday night, two days earlier than expected. Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa promised to address the country soon as his Citizens Coalition for Change party said it would reject the results as “hastily assembled without proper verification.”
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“They stole your voice and vote but never your hope,” Chamisa wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in his first public reaction to the results. “It's a blatant and gigantic fraud.”
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People in the country of 15 million are bound to view the results with suspicion.
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International election observers have noted problems with the election, held Wednesday and Thursday, citing an atmosphere of intimidation against Chamisa's supporters.
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In the buildup to the vote, international rights groups reported there had been a crackdown on opposition to Mnangagwa and the long-ruling ZANU-PF party, which had used the police and courts to harass and intimidate opposition officials and supporters, the rights groups said.
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Before the election, Chamisa alleged in an interview with The Associated Press that his party's rallies had been broken up by police and his supporters had often been intimidated and threatened with violence.
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The actual election was also problematic and voting was extended into an extra day Thursday because of a shortage of ballot papers, especially in the capital, Harare, and other urban areas that are opposition strongholds. People slept at polling stations to make sure they were able to vote.
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Mnangagwa's victory meant ZANU-PF retained the governmental leadership it has held for all 43 years of Zimbabwe's history since the nation was renamed following independence from white minority rule in 1980.
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Mnangagwa, 80, was re-elected for a second and final five-year term with 52.6 per cent of the vote, according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
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?Chamisa, 45, who also lost to Mnangagwa in a very close and disputed election five years ago, won 44 per cent of the vote this time, the commission said. ZANU-PF also kept its parliamentary majority.
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?“This is a very happy occasion indeed,” said Ziyambi Ziyambi, an election agent for Mnangagwa and a Cabinet minister. “Zimbabweans have shown confidence in our president and ZANU-PF.”
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Zimbabwe has a history of disputed and sometimes violent elections in the more than four decades of ZANU-PF rule, most notably under autocratic former president Robert Mugabe, who was leader for 37 years and oversaw a period of economic collapse that gained Zimbabwe international notoriety.
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Mugabe's regime also resulted in the United States and European Union applying sanctions on Zimbabwe for alleged human rights abuses. Those sanctions are largely still in place.
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Mugabe was removed from power in a military-led coup in 2017 and replaced with Mnangagwa, his former vice president.
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The coup was widely popular and celebrated as a new dawn, but while Mnangagwa promised an era of freedom and prosperity, critics have alleged the former guerrilla fighter nicknamed “the crocodile” has become as repressive as his predecessor.
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Zimbabwe has had just those two leaders in more than four decades of independence.
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The 2023 election results were released around 11.30 pm Saturday night at the official results centre in Harare, taking many by surprise.
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They came just 48 hours after polls closed in the delayed elections when election officials had planned to announce the results five days after voting ended.
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“We reject any results hastily assembled without proper verification,” said?