Zimbabwe says election is clean; opposition is skeptical

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s election took an uneasy turn Tuesday when the opposition alleged results were not posted outside one-fifth of polling stations as required by law, and the electoral commission said the impatient nation would have to wait longer to learn who will be its next president. The two main contenders are 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former deputy president who took over after Mugabe stepped down under military pressure last year, and 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who became head of the main opposition party a few months ago after the death of its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Security forces “will remain on high alert and continue to monitor the security situation in the country.”

Zimbabweans desperately hope Monday’s peaceful vote will lift them out of economic and political stagnation after decades of Robert Mugabe’s rule, but the country is haunted by a history of electoral violence and manipulation that means trust is scarce, despite today’s freer environment. The 94-year-old former leader had been in power since independence from white minority rule in 1980 until he was forced to resign in November after the military and ruling ZANU-PF party turned on him. Mugabe on Sunday called Chamisa the only viable candidate and rejected Mnangagwa and the ruling party, saying that “I cannot vote for those who have tormented me.”

Piercing whistles and cheers greeted Chamisa as he voted outside Harare, saying that “it’s a great moment for Zimbabwe.” He said he hoped voting in rural areas, where most of Zimbabwe’s voters are and where the ruling party usually holds away, will be fair.
Voters in Zimbabwe go to the polls to elect a new president and members for both houses of the Parliament, the first election to not involve longtime former president Robert Mugabe.