HARARE – Zimbabweans waited anxiously Friday for the result of general elections as dozens of armed police with water cannons guarded the nationwide results middle, the scene of fatal violence after the former vote 5 years in the past.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission mentioned it was once nonetheless verifying results from as regards to 12,500 polling stations around the nation and may just get started liberating main points Friday. Results within the presidential voting aren’t anticipated for a number of days.
Zimbabwe’s lengthy historical past of disputed elections has left many cautious of reputable results.
Voting closed Thursday after delays in distributing poll papers within the capital, Harare, and different city spaces induced President Emmerson Mnangagwa to increase vote casting by way of an afternoon. Many electorate slept outdoor polling stations in city spaces which might be opposition strongholds to solid their ballots.
Mnangagwa, 80, is looking for a 2nd and ultimate five-year time period however faces a significant problem from Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old legal professional and pastor whom he narrowly defeated within the disputed 2018 election.
This is the second one normal election because the ouster of longtime repressive ruler Robert Mugabe in a coup in 2017. It will choose the president, 350-member parliament and as regards to 2,000 council seats countrywide. More than 6 million other people have been registered to vote, despite the fact that turnout hasn’t been introduced.
Police on Thursday mentioned they arrested 41 employees with two approved ballot tracking teams, the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network and the Election Resource Center, and seized their computer systems. Police accused them of “subversive and criminal activities” as a part of an opposition plan to manufacture the results.
But the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights mentioned the employees have been sporting out their mandate as election observers.
The elections had been tainted by way of allegations of violence, intimidation and accusations by way of the opposition and human rights teams that Mnangagwa used the police and the courts to silence dissent, amid emerging tensions because of a foreign money disaster, a pointy hike in meals costs, a weakening public well being gadget and insufficient numbers of formal jobs.
Both Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF celebration, which has dominated for a long time, and Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change events mentioned they have been headed for victory.
“It’s a decisive win!” Chamisa mentioned on social media.
“ZANU-PF takes early poll lead,” the state-run Herald newspaper mentioned Friday, basing its document on a couple of parliamentary results introduced Thursday.
The elections frame has requested other people to be affected person and wait for reputable results.
The scenario remained calm within the capital and no primary unrest was once reported in different portions of the rustic.
But dozens of police with batons, tear gasoline canisters and weapons stood guard alongside with water cannons subsequent to the results middle. Others manned metal barricades on primary roads resulting in the middle.
After the remaining elections, the federal government deployed infantrymen to position down protests on the results middle and in other places within the town. Soldiers fired are living rounds, killing six other people. The protests have been over delays within the announcement of presidential results and fears of election rigging.