APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) The United Kingdom on Friday added its voice to the chorus of organisations criticising the conduct of Zimbabwe’s August 23-24 elections, saying the tallying of results was fraught with irregularities.
UK Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said his government shared the view of other election observation missions such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and European Union “that the pre-election environment and election day fell short of regional and international standards.”
“Issues included limited transparency from the electoral commission, the lack of level playing field, the passing of repressive legislation, long delays in the opening of some polling stations, and reports of intimidation of voters,” Mitchell said in a statement.
He said the UK “takes note” of the results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on Saturday, which showed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had won 52.6 percent of the presidential vote against 44 percent for opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa.
“However, we are concerned by a lack of transparency in the tallying of results, as well as the arrests of domestic observers,” Mitchell said.
The results also gave Mnangagwa’s ZANU PF 136 seats out of the 210 contested National Assembly seats while the CCC got 73. Elections in one constituency were postponed following the death of a candidate.
The CCC has rejected the poll outcome and called for fresh elections supervised by SADC and the African Union.
He commended Zimbabweans for demonstrating patience and “especially for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere on election day and beyond.”
“We urge all parties and citizens to continue to follow constitutional processes in the coming weeks, allow space for inclusive dialogue, and act with restraint.”
JN/APA