APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe’s governing ZANU PF is upbeat that it did very well in Wednesday’s general elections, with the party’s treasurer general Patrick Chinamasa saying they are on course to attaining a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Addressing journalists on Thursday night, Chinamasa said results collated from the more than 12,700 polling stations dotted across the country showed that ZANU PF would retain its majority in parliament while its presidential candidate, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was on course to winning between 60 and 65 percent of the vote.
“On the basis of the results we have, we are on full target of achieving two-thirds majority in the National Assembly,” the former justice minister said.
He added: “As ZANU PF we are also on target of achieving 60-65 percent for our president in this election.”
Mnangagwa, who turns 81 in September, is seeking a second term after taking over from long-time Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe following a military coup in 2017.
His main challenger in the August 23 presidential race was Nelson Chamisa, 45, of the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Chinamasa spoke as tensions rose in Zimbabwe following a poll marred by unprecedented delays in voting in the capital Harare and other urban constituencies, long considered strongholds for the opposition.
The CCC on Friday accused the police and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of double standards by not taking action after Chinamasa’s premature announcement of results.
“We have taken note of our opponents’ illegal actions in announcing fake results of the presidential votes, even before some wards and constituencies finished compiling the final results,” the party wrote on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter).
Only ZEC is allowed to announce elections results.
Chinamasa’s actions came a few hours after 41 civil society activists were arrested for allegedly violating the electoral law by tabulating results from Wednesday’s vote.
The civil society groups were coordinating an independent count of election results to pre-empt any attempts to doctor the outcome of the election.
Previous Zimbabwe elections have been marred by allegations of result manipulation, a development has seen the country’s poll results being contested since 2000.
JN/APA