Home Tags Posts tagged with "zimbabwe election"
zimbabwe election
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a seventh term in office as the country’s president.
Thursday has been declared a public holiday to allow supporters of Robert Mugabe, 89, to attend the inauguration.
The ceremony had been delayed by a court petition filed by his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, over allegations of widespread electoral fraud.
But the Constitutional Court dismissed the case, declaring Robert Mugabe’s re-election “free, fair and credible”.
Robert Mugabe won with 61% of the presidential vote against 34% for Morgan Tsvangirai on July 31.
The elections ended a fragile power-sharing government formed by the two men in 2009 under pressure from regional leaders following elections the year before marred by violence and allegations of electoral fraud.
Outgoing Prime Minister and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he would not be attending the inauguration ceremony.
“Expecting Tsvangirai to attend the inauguration is like expecting a victim of robbery to attend a party hosted by the robber,” his spokesman, Luke Tamborinyoka, told AFP.
Free fizzy drinks and T-shirts reading “Mugabe fearless revolutionary” were being given to the arriving crowds.
Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a seventh term in office as Zimbabwe’s president
One of the banners in the stadium reads: “It’s Africa versus Europe with Zimbabwe as the new battlefront.”
The US and UK have expressed concern over the official results granting victory to Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party.
But the African Union has said that any irregularities were not enough to overturn the margin of victory.
Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lost two court cases related to fraud claims in last month’s disputed elections. Rulings were issued despite the MDC withdrawing its case saying it would not get a fair hearing.
The party alleged that more than a million voters were prevented from casting their ballots in polling stations, mostly in the capital and urban areas considered to be MDC strongholds.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which placed 7,000 observers around the country, has also judged the election flawed.
MDC officials have indicated they are unwilling to continue their partnership government with Zanu-PF.
Meanwhile, the US said recently that sanctions imposed on Robert Mugabe and some 119 other Zimbabwean individuals would remain in place until there were further political reforms.
Some 40 heads of state and government have been invited to attend the high-profile inauguration ceremony.
Once inaugurated, Robert Mugabe will serve another five-year term. Under the new constitution approved in a referendum earlier this year he will be able to serve another term after this.
Robert Mugabe served as Zimbabwe’s first post-independence prime minister between 1980 and 1987, and has held office as president ever since.
[youtube 3C6mm8nnzdo]
Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe has filed a legal challenge to Robert Mugabe’s victory in last week’s presidential elections.
The electoral petition seeks an order for the result to be declared null and void and a new election to be called within 60 days.
The MDC’s 15 grounds include alleged bribery, abuse of “assisted voting” and manipulation of the electoral roll.
Robert Mugabe, 89, won with 61% of the presidential vote.
His Zanu-PF party gained a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds, with 160 seats against 49 for the MDC.
The MDC is to file a complaint on the parliamentary results at a later date.
With a two-thirds majority, Zanu-PF is able to amend the constitution, potentially restoring presidential powers which were reduced earlier this year.
Lawyers for the MDC, which filed its petition with the country’s constitutional court, said they had “strong evidence of electoral irregularities”.
They said a shockingly high number of people were unable to vote at the polls, and that food and other bribes were used to persuade voters to back Robert Mugabe.
Morgan Tsvangirai has filed court challenge against Robert Mugabe poll win
“The Movement of Democratic Change has filed its election petition… what we seek is that this election be declared null and void in terms of section 93 of the constitution of Zimbabwe,” said MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora.
The challenge comes a day after Zimbabwe’s electoral commission said nearly 305,000 voters had been turned away from polling stations on election day. The MDC says the true number is about 900,000.
Robert Mugabe’s margin of victory was some 940,000 votes.
A week after the election, Robert Mugabe dismissed criticism of the polls and lashed out at Western countries for their response.
Zimbabwe’s nine-member constitutional court has up to 14 days to respond to the legal challenge.
Correspondents say some of the judges are believed to be Mugabe loyalists.
The MDC says it is “aware” of this, and as a result it will make its appeal public and even produce evidence of “bribed goods”.
If the court upholds the results, Robert Mugabe must be sworn in within 48 hours of the ruling.
“We have done the best that we can under the circumstances, presented the matter before the court, and it is now up to the court to determine how strong the case is,” said MDC lawyer Chris Mhike.
African and regional monitors praised the poll for being peaceful but noted some irregularities. Western observers were not invited to witness the July 31 vote.
But a local observer group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and its network of 7,000 observers, has said that about one million voters – mainly in urban areas – were “systematically disenfranchised” by being omitted from the voters’ roll or turned away.
The electoral roll has come in for criticism for having duplicate names and the names of dead Zimbabweans.
The MDC says 900,000 people were turned away from polling stations – mostly in the capital where the MDC’s vote is strong – and another 300,000 people were coerced through “assisted voting”.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected the vote as fraudulent and said his party would boycott government institutions.
The Zanu-PF and the MDC have been in a coalition since 2009, after the last election sparked widespread violence.
[youtube I235YR5kMlE]
Nearly 305,000 Zimbabwean voters were turned away during last week’s elections, which the opposition has said were rigged.
These are the first such official figures provided by Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission (ZEC).
The number of rejected voters has been a major complaint.
It also said 207,000 voters were “assisted” to cast their ballot – another alleged source of fraud.
President Robert Mugabe gained 938,085 more votes than his main rival.
Morgan Tsvangirai, who took 34% of the vote, has alleged massive fraud.
His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party is planning to file court applications against the results of the presidential and parliamentary votes.
Robert Mugabe, 89, won with 61% of the presidential vote and his Zanu-PF gained a two-thirds majority in parliament, with 160 seats compared to 49 for the MDC.
African and regional monitors praised the poll for being peaceful but noted some irregularities. Western observers were not invited to witness the July 31st vote.
But a local observer group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and its network of 7,000 observers, has said that about one million voters were “systematically disenfranchised” by being omitted from the voters’ roll or turned away.
Nearly 305,000 Zimbabwean voters were turned away during last week’s elections
The electoral roll has come in for criticism for having duplicate names and the names of dead Zimbabweans – the MDC says it has found 838,000 entries with the same name, address and date of birth but different ID number, 350,000 people who are more than 85 years old and 109,000 aged over 100.
The figures of those turned away from polling station represent 8.7% of votes cast.
According to the electoral commission’s statistics, the largest number of turned away voters – 64,483 – was in Harare.
The MDC has stronger support in towns and cities and ZESN says voters had most trouble registering in urban areas.
In its assessment of the election, the African Union observer mission noted that it was concerned by the high number of assisted voters nationwide.
The MDC says that “assisted voters” – supposedly the illiterate or infirm – were made to vote for Zanu-PF.
The ZEC figures show that assisted voting happened more in the rural areas, Zanu-PF’s stronghold, where, according to ZESN, 99.97% of voters were registered.
Such figures are shocking as the UN regards Zimbabwe as the most literate country in Africa and the number of assisted voters represents 5.9% of votes cast.
MDC party, which had been in a coalition with Zanu-PF for four years following disputed elections in 2008, is expected file its appeals within the seven days of the results, which were announced on Saturday 3 August. This could be as late as next Wednesday as the MDC’s legal team say weekends are not counted and next Monday and Tuesday are public holidays.
The court then has 14 days to deliver a judgement. If the court upholds the results, Robert Mugabe must be sworn in within 48 hours of the ruling.
A week after the election, Robert Mugabe dismissed criticism of the polls and lashed out at Western countries for their concerns about the vote.
“We are very happy that we have dealt the enemy a blow, and the enemy is not Tsvangirai,” AFP news agency quoted the president as saying.
“Tsvangirai is a mere part of the enemy. The enemy is he who is behind Tsvangirai. Who is behind the MDC? The British and their allies. Those are the ones who were the real enemies.”
Robert Mugabe has long accused the British of trying to oust him from power in its former colony because of his policy of seizing white-owned land.
Zimbabwe elections results 2013:
Presidential:
- Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF – 61%, 2,110,434 votes
- Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC – 34%, 1,172,349 votes
Parliamentary:
- Zanu-PF – 160 seats (up 61 seats from 2008)
- MDC – 49 seats (down 51 seats from 2008)
The US and UK have expressed concerns after Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe won a seventh term in office amid claims of electoral fraud.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the results did not “represent a credible expression of the people”.
Robert Mugabe, 89, won 61% of the vote, against PM Morgan Tsvangirai’s 34%.
But Morgan Tsvangirai rejected the vote for parliament and president as fraudulent and vowed to take legal action.
He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would no longer work with Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and boycott government institutions.
The two parties have been in a coalition since 2009, after the last election sparked widespread violence.
Results from this week’s parliamentary election showed the MDC had been trounced, winning just 49 seats compared with Zanu-PF’s 158.
Major Western groups were not invited to send observer missions to monitor Wednesday’s election.
The US has described the vote as “deeply flawed”.
“In light of substantial electoral irregularities reported by domestic and regional observers, the United States does not believe that the results represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people,” John Kerry said.
Former colonial power the UK also expressed “grave concerns” over reports of large numbers of voters being turned away from polling stations.
British Foreign Minister William Hague urged a thorough investigation of all allegations of violations.
The US and UK have expressed concerns after Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe won a seventh term in office
Meanwhile the European Union which maintains sanctions on Robert Mugabe and his senior aides, said it was worried about “alleged irregularities and reports of incomplete participation” in the election.
Monitoring groups disagreed over the conduct of the election.
The most critical account came from the largest group of monitors, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), which had 7,000 workers observing the vote.
The organization said problems with voter registration had left up to one million people unable to cast their ballots, mostly in urban areas regarded as MDC strongholds.
On Saturday, one of the nine members of the election commission resigned over the way the election was conducted.
Commissioner Mkhululi Nyathi said in his resignation letter: “While throughout the whole process I retained some measure of hope that the integrity of the whole process could be salvaged along the way, this was not to be.”
However, the African Union, which had 70 observers, said its initial report suggested the election was “free and credible”.
The AU’s mission chief Olusegun Obasanjo said there had been “incidents that could have been avoided” and asked Zimbabwe’s election authorities to investigate claims that voters had been turned away from polling stations.
SADC, with 600 observers, broadly endorsed the election as “free and peaceful”, but said it would reserve judgement on the fairness of the process.
In a news conference before the presidential result was announced, Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe was “in mourning”.
“The fraudulent and stolen election has launched Zimbabwe into a constitutional, political and economic crisis,” he said.
He said he would produce a dossier of the alleged electoral fraud and he called on the southern African regional bloc, SADC, to investigate.
His MDC colleagues had earlier called for a campaign of civil disobedience to isolate Zanu-PF.
Robert Mugabe has been president since 1987. He became prime minister when Zimbabwe won independence from the UK in 1980.
[youtube JzcavQOHR-0]
Robert Mugabe has won a seventh term in office as Zimbabwe’s president, officials say, amid claims of electoral fraud.
Robert Mugabe, 89, won 61% of the vote, against PM Morgan Tsvangirai’s 34%.
Morgan Tsvangirai earlier said the elections for parliament and president were fraudulent and promised to take legal action.
He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would no longer work with Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.
The two parties have been in a coalition since 2009, after the last election sparked widespread violence.
Results from this week’s parliamentary election showed the MDC had been trounced, winning just 49 seats compared with Zanu-PF’s 158.
In a news conference before the presidential result was announced, Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe was “in mourning”.
“The fraudulent and stolen election has launched Zimbabwe into a constitutional, political and economic crisis,” he said.
He said he would produce a dossier of the alleged electoral fraud and he called on the southern African regional bloc, SADC, to investigate.
Robert Mugabe has won a seventh term in office as Zimbabwe’s president
His MDC colleagues had earlier called for a campaign of civil disobedience to isolate Zanu-PF.
The European Union, which maintains sanctions on Robert Mugabe and his senior aides, said it was concerned about “alleged irregularities and reports of incomplete participation” in Wednesday’s election.
Former colonial power the UK said it had grave concerns about the conduct of the election, and urged a thorough investigation of all allegations of violations.
Monitoring groups disagreed over the conduct of the election.
The most critical account came from the largest group of monitors, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), which had 7,000 workers observing the vote.
The organization said problems with voter registration had left up to one million people unable to cast their ballots, mostly in urban areas regarded as MDC strongholds.
On Saturday, one of the nine members of the election commission resigned over the way the election was conducted.
Commissioner Mkhululi Nyathi said in his resignation letter: “While throughout the whole process I retained some measure of hope that the integrity of the whole process could be salvaged along the way, this was not to be.”
However, the African Union, which had 70 observers, said its initial report suggested the election was “free and credible”.
The AU’s mission chief Olusegun Obasanjo said there had been “incidents that could have been avoided” and asked Zimbabwe’s election authorities to investigate claims that voters had been turned away from polling stations.
SADC, with 600 observers, broadly endorsed the election as “free and peaceful”, but said it would reserve judgement on the fairness of the process.
Major Western groups were not invited to send observer missions.
Robert Mugabe has been president since 1987. He became prime minister when Zimbabwe won independence from the UK in 1980.
[youtube nhBw9-xP2HE]
Zimbabwean presidential and parliamentary elections were “free, honest and credible”, the African Union observer mission’s head has said.
Olusegun Obasanjo said the incidents reported during Wednesday’s poll could not “change the outcome”.
The largest observer group said earlier the poll was “seriously compromised”.
President Robert Mugabe’s party is claiming victory in the election, which was rejected as a “huge farce” by PM Morgan Tsvangirai.
On Wednesday, voters were choosing a president, 210 lawmakers and local councilors. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has five days to declare who won the poll.
First official results from national assembly elections show that Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party is taking an early lead. However, the seats announced were mostly in Robert Mugabe’s rural strongholds, correspondents say.
Zanu-PF spokesman Rugaro Gumbo predicted that Robert Mugabe – who is running for a seventh term – would get at least 70% of the vote in the presidential poll.
“We are expecting a landslide victory,” he was quoted as saying in Zimbabwe’s state-run Herald newspaper.
Zanu-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have shared an uneasy coalition government since 2009 under a deal brokered to end the deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.
Speaking in the capital Harare on Friday, Olusegun Obasanjo said the elections were fair and free “from the campaigning point of view”.
First official results from national assembly elections show that Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party is taking an early lead
The former Nigerian president admitted that there were “incidents that could have been avoided”, but he stressed that the AU observers did not believe they could change the overall outcome of the poll.
His assessment sharply contrasted to that by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) – the largest group of domestic monitors.
It said on Thursday that the elections were “seriously compromised”, with as many as a million people being unable to cast their ballots.
The ZESN said potential voters were much more likely to be turned away from polling stations in urban areas, where support for Morgan Tsvangirai is strong, than in Robert Mugabe’s rural strongholds.
The group also alleged significant registration irregularities before the poll.
But speaking to al-Jazeera, Olusegun Obasanjo questioned ZESN’s conclusions, describing them as “not verifiable”.
He said he was satisfied that the apparent anomalies between registration between urban and rural voters mentioned by ZESN had been explained by the registrar-general, who had the accurate figures for birth and death.
Olusegun Obasanjo also said that Morgan Tsvangirai’s camp should have addressed concerns about the electoral roll before the vote – not after.
On Thursday, Morgan Tsvangirai said the elections were “null and void”.
“Our conclusion is that this has been a huge farce. The credibility of this election has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affected the legitimacy of its outcome.
“It’s a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people.”
Another observer mission – the Southern African Development Community – is expected to give its verdict on the elections later on Friday.
It is illegal to publish unofficial election results in Zimbabwe. Police have warned they would take action against anyone trying to leak early results.
Extra units – some in riot gear – have now been deployed in Harare.
Under the electoral law, if no presidential candidate gains 50% of the ballots, a run-off will be held on September 11.
[youtube 8RFSTXbfPpg]
Zimbabwean presidential election was a “huge farce”, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said, alleging vote-rigging by rival President Robert Mugabe’s camp.
At a news conference, Morgan Tsvangirai said that Wednesday’s poll was “null and void”.
The largest observer group earlier said up to a million people were prevented from voting.
Robert Mugabe’s party – which is claiming a victory – denied the accusations, saying the voting went smoothly.
It is illegal to publish unofficial results.
Vote counting started overnight, and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has five days to declare who won the poll.
Police have warned they would take action against anyone trying to leak early results. Extra units – some in riot gear – have now been deployed in the capital, Harare.
African regional observers have praised the peaceful nature of the election.
Speaking at his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) headquarters in Harare, Morgan Tsvangirai said: “In our view, that election is null and void.”
“It’s a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people.”
Morgan Tsvangirai spoke shortly after the monitors from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said the poll was “seriously compromised”.
In a statement, the ZESN said that potential voters were turned away from 82% of polling stations in urban areas, where support for Morgan Tsvangirai is strong.
In rural areas – seen as strongholds of President Robert Mugabe – the percentage was less than half that, the group added.
On Wednesday, villagers, MDC polling agents and the ZESN said there had been voting irregularities in rural parts of Masvingo province.
Vote counting started overnight, and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has five days to declare who won the poll
They said local traditional leaders and village heads had lined up people, forcibly marched them to the polling stations and given them voting numbers as if to cross-check who they had voted for.
They also allege that in these areas some literate people were forced to pretend they could not read or write and were assisted to cast their vote in favor of Zanu-PF.
Zanu-PF spokesman Psychology Maziwisa denied that many voters had been deliberately prevented from registering.
He admitted that there were some irregularities, but stressed that both main parties had been affected.
“You’ve got to bear in mind that that was partly due to the fact that resources were not being made available by the finance minister who is Tendai Biti, who comes from the Movement for Democratic Change party,” he said.
“If you look at the Zimbabwean situation you can only come to one conclusion. And that is that over the last four years we’ve made a lot of effort to make this environment in Zimbabwe as conducive as it possibly can [be] for an election that is free and fair.”
Robert Mugabe, 89, has pledged to step down after 33 years in power if he and his party lost.
President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC have shared an uneasy coalition government since 2009 under a deal brokered to end the deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.
The first round of the 2008 poll was also praised for being peaceful – trouble broke out after the results were announced, with Morgan Tsvangirai gaining more votes than Robert Mugabe.
On Tuesday, the MDC accused Zanu-PF of doctoring the roll of registered voters, which was released by the ZEC only on the eve of the polls after weeks of delay.
The MDC claimed the roll dated back to 1985 and was full of anomalies.
It appears the document features the names of thousands of dead people.
MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti said there were as many as two million such names, while some genuine voters were not on the rolls.
The MDC has already handed its evidence to observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
But a senior Zanu-PF member has denied the allegations, saying that appointees from both parties were in the electoral commission.
In addition to Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, there are three other candidates standing for the presidency: Welshman Ncube, leader of the breakaway MDC-Mutambara; Dumiso Dabengwa of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu), and Kisinoti Munodei Mukwazhe, who represents the small Zimbabwe Development Party (ZDP).
To be declared a winner, a presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate reaches this mark, a run-off will be held on September 11.
The elections were the first to be held under the new constitution approved in a referendum in March this year.
On Wednesday, voters were also electing the country’s new parliament.
[youtube A6-DEN33DdA]
Zimbabwe is voting in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections which have already been hit by fraud allegations.
President Robert Mugabe, 89, has said he will step down after 33 years in power if he and his Zanu-PF party lose.
PM Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have accused Zanu-PF of doctoring the electoral roll, a charge it has denied.
Campaigning was mostly peaceful, with few reports of intimidation.
Zanu-PF and the MDC have shared an uneasy coalition government since 2009 under a deal brokered to end the deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.
Morgan Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round, but pulled out of the run-off with Robert Mugabe because of attacks on his supporters.
The government has barred Western observers from monitoring Wednesday’s elections, but the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as local organizations, have been accredited.
Polls opened at 07:00 local time and are due to close at 19:00.
The turnout is expected to be high among the 6.4 million people registered to vote, with tens of thousands of people attending rallies in recent weeks. Results are expected within five days.
Zimbabwe is voting in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections which have already been hit by fraud allegations
Wednesday has been declared a national holiday to ensure people can vote. Despite this, voters queued for several hours outside polling stations across the country before they opened.
At a news conference at State House on Tuesday, Robert Mugabe was asked if he and Zanu-PF would accept defeat.
“If you go into a process and join a competition where there are only two outcomes, win or lose, you can’t be both. You either win or lose. If you lose, you must surrender,” he said.
But Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed the president’s remarks.
“He does not believe in the right of the people to choose. He does not believe he can be voted out of office,” he said.
The 61 year old has vowed to push Robert Mugabe into retirement; it is his third attempt to unseat him.
An MDC spokesman said separately that the party was only prepared to accept the results of the elections if they were “free and fair”.
On Tuesday, the MDC accused Zanu-PF of doctoring the roll of registered voters, which was released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) only on the eve of the polls after weeks of delay.
The MDC claimed the roll dated back to 1985 and was full of anomalies.
It appears the document features the names of thousands of dead people and many names with the same address appear two or three times.
A Zanu-PF spokesman denied the allegations and pointed out that appointees from both parties were on the ZEC. He also accused Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a member of the MDC, of not funding the commission properly. The ZEC has not commented.
In addition to Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, there are three other candidates standing for the presidency – Welshman Ncube, leader of the breakaway MDC-Mutambara; Dumiso Dabengwa of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu), and Kisinoti Munodei Mukwazhe, who represents the small Zimbabwe Development Party (ZDP).
To be declared a winner, a presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate reaches this mark, a run-off will be held on September 11.
The elections will be the first to be held under the new constitution approved in a referendum in March this year.
[youtube o6b4ni_OJJw]
