80 years old Zimbabwe president Emerson Mnangagwa wins second term election with 53% votes

Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa has been elected for a second five-year-term after an election that observers said was conducted in a climate of fear.

The 80-year-old, nicknamed the Crocodile by his supporters because of his political cunning, won 52.6 per cent of the vote and Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the main opposition party, took 44 per cent, according to election officials.

The ruling Zanu-PF party also appeared poised to regain control of parliament but without its two-thirds majority which previously gave it power to change the constitution.

The opposition immediately rejected the results as “hastily assembled without proper verification” and said it would “not roll over and accept fictitious lies”.

Polling last week in the southern African nation of 16 million people was marred by lengthy delays in the delivery of ballot papers that left citizens queuing for hours and required a second day of voting in some areas.

The opposition complained of widespread intimidation before the vote and dozens of local election observers were arrested in the aftermath.

The opposition did not immediately announce what action it would take, but said discrepancies in the results were “glaringly apparent”.

Promise Mkwananzi, spokesman for the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change, said Zimbabwe’s election body “can no longer be depended upon to safeguard our votes and our democracy”.

Mr Mnangagwa ousted his long-time ally, Robert Mugabe, in 2017 in an internal coup, before winning his first term a year later.

He presides over a country which was hailed as a model for African development in the 1980s but has since slid into economic crisis and authoritarianism.

The vote was being watched across southern Africa as a test of support for Mr Mnangagwa and a party which has been in power since independence in 1980.

Credible and peaceful elections are seen as key for the international community to resume normal relations with Zimbabwe after two decades of isolation and sanctions.

Yet while the vote passed off without the political violence which has blighted previous elections, monitors said it had often fallen short of international standards.

Observers said opposition rallies had been banned, state media had been biased and voters had been intimidated.

A team from the European Union said voting had taken place in “a progressively tense atmosphere” and the government had used repressive laws and intimidation to sway voters.

A preliminary report found that during the election “fundamental freedoms were increasingly curtailed” and there had been “acts of violence and intimidation, which resulted in a climate of fear”.

Supporters of president Emmerson Mnangagwa celebrate after he was declared the winner on Saturday CREDIT: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
Poll observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) based in Botswana, were also unusually outspoken, saying the elections were not up to regional or democratic standards.

“Some aspects of the harmonised election fell short of the requirements of the constitution of Zimbabwe, the electoral act and the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections,” said Nevers Mumba, the head of the delegation.

Many in the international community had high hopes when Mr Mnangagwa toppled Mr Mugabe but he has struggled to revive the economy and been accused of maintaining Zanu-PF’s authoritarian grip.

Inflation has been running into triple figures and unemployment is high.

He enters his second term without a recognised successor and with factions of his party still angry at his role in bringing down Mr Mugabe.