{"id":10995,"date":"2018-07-28T09:28:49","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T09:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=10995"},"modified":"2018-07-28T09:28:49","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T09:28:49","slug":"vote-rigging-claims-48-hours-to-zimbabwe-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=10995","title":{"rendered":"Vote rigging claims 48 hours to Zimbabwe elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pusher\" class=\"off-canvas-wrap closed\" data-offcanvas=\"\">\n<div id=\"wrapper\" class=\"container inner-wrap\">\n<div id=\"outer_wrapper\" class=\"outer_wrapper\">\n<header id=\"main-header\">\n<div class=\"top-menu\n\t\t sticky-scroll-up\t\t contain-to-grid\t\t\t show-for-small-only\"><\/p>\n<nav class=\"top-bar\" data-topbar=\"\" data-sticky_height=\"0\" data-distance=\"245\" data-options=\"sticky_on: small; back_text: Back\">By <strong>AFP<\/strong>.<br \/>\nAllegations of voter fraud are mounting in Zimbabwe less than 48 hours to the first polls\u00a0 since former leader Robert Mugabe was ousted last year,<br \/>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div id=\"inner_wrapper\" class=\"inner_wrapper hide-on-mobile-menu \">\n<div class=\"row full-width\">\n<div class=\"inner_content\">\n<div class=\"row has-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"post-101498 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news tag-nelson-chamisa tag-president-emmerson-mnangagwa tag-zimbabwe-election\">\n<div class=\"row vc_row in-container\">\n<div class=\"medium-8 column left\">\n<article id=\"post-101498\" data-postid=\"101498\" data-guid=\"http:\/\/www.nan.ng\/?p=101498\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.nan.ng\/news\/vote-rigging-claims-48-hours-to-zimbabwe-elections\/\">\n<div class=\"row collapse article-content-wrap\">\n<div class=\"small-12 medium-9 right column\">\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"post-body  xt-post-content\">\n<div class=\"line textcontent_img watermark\">\nPresident Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe\u2019s former ally in the ruling ZANU-PF party, faces opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) party in a landmark vote for the southern African nation.\n<\/div>\n<p>Zimbabwe\u2019s military generals shocked the world in November when they seized control and ushered Mnangagwa to power, ending Mugabe\u2019s 37-year reign in a few short days.<br \/>\nMnangagwa, 75, who promises a fresh start for the country, is the front-runner with the advantage of covert military support, a loyal state media and a ruling party that controls government resources.<br \/>\nBut Chamisa, 40, who has performed strongly on the campaign trail, hopes to tap into a young population that could vote for change as ZANU-PF has ruled since the country\u2019s independence from British colonial rule in 1980.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_101499\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-101499\" src=\"http:\/\/s18694.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Nelson-Chamisa-of-the-MDC-campaigns-e1532759918706.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nelson Chamisa of the MDC campaigns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Elections under Mugabe were marred by fraud and violence, and this year\u2019s campaign has been dominated by accusations that the vote will be rigged.<br \/>\nThe MDC has raised allegations of a flawed electoral roll, ballot paper malpractice, voter intimidation, bias in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and free food handed out by the ruling party.<br \/>\nBut campaigning has been relatively unrestricted and peaceful compared with previous elections, and some analysts point to pressure for the vote to be judged credible to draw a line under the isolation of the Mugabe era.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_95283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-95283\" src=\"http:\/\/s18694.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Justice-Priscilla-Chigumba-ZEC-boss.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/s18694.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Justice-Priscilla-Chigumba-ZEC-boss.jpg 680w, http:\/\/s18694.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Justice-Priscilla-Chigumba-ZEC-boss-300x168.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"380\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justice Priscilla Chigumba ZEC boss: allegations of vote rigging mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe international community is looking for an election that will provide sufficient excuse to re-engage with Zimbabwe,\u201d said Showers Mawowa, an analyst at the Southern African Liaison Office rights advocacy group.<\/p>\n<div class=\"line textcontent_img watermark\">\n\u201cThere are a lot of political and economic interests at play that are converging around the prioritisation of stability.\u201d<br \/>\nMawowa said the risk of violence or military intervention could be highest after polling day.\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThere is reason to be anxious about whether or not the military will accept an opposition victory, particularly because they recently executed a de facto coup,\u201d he said.<br \/>\n\u201cPost-election violence might be a possibility, with the opposition making it clear that they are not going to accept an outcome that they would have not won.\u201d<br \/>\nPolling accuracy in Zimbabwe is uncertain, but a recent Afrobarometer survey of 2,400 people put Mnangagwa on 40 percent and Chamisa on 37 percent, with 20 percent undecided.<br \/>\nMnangagwa, who is accused of involvement in election violence and fraud under Mugabe, has vowed to hold a fair vote and invited in international observers \u2014 including the previously-banned European Union team.<br \/>\n\u201cThis is the new Zimbabwe we want. We shall continue to grow and grow,\u201d he said opening a chrome processing plant this week.<br \/>\n\u201cZimbabwe shall never be the same again. We preach peace, we preach unity and we preach tolerance.\u201d<br \/>\nChamisa has launched blistering attacks on Mnangagwa and accused the much-criticised Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of trying to fix the election.<br \/>\nBut he vowed not to boycott the vote, saying his party would still win.<br \/>\n\u201cWe have a ZEC that has chosen to throw away the whistle as a referee and joined another team,\u201d he said on Wednesday. \u201cWinners don\u2019t boycott. Victory is inevitable.\u201d<br \/>\nThe UN High Commission for Human Rights has warned of growing concern over alleged intimidation and threats of violence in the run-up to the election, but said it was encouraging to see open rallies and peaceful demonstrations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"line textcontent_img watermark\">\nThe next government must tackle mass unemployment and an economy shattered by the Mugabe-backed seizure of white-owned farms, the collapse of agriculture, hyperinflation and an investment exodus.\n<\/div>\n<p>Previously solid health and education services are in ruins and millions have fled abroad to seek work.<br \/>\nLife expectancy has only just recovered to its 1985 level of 61 years.<br \/>\n\u201cWe need to see jobs,\u201d said Rest Maphosa, one resident of the capital Harare. \u201cI will be patient even if it takes me eight hours standing in the queue, because what I want is to vote.\u201d<br \/>\nWith 5.6 million registered voters, the results of the presidential, parliamentary and local elections are due by August 4.<br \/>\nA run-off vote is scheduled for September 8 if no presidential candidate wins at least 50 percent plus one in the first round.<\/p>\n<div class=\"line textcontent_img watermark\">\nIn 2008, then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the run-off after attacks orchestrated by the state claimed the lives of at least 200 of his supporters.<br \/>\nMugabe, now a frail 94, was finally ousted as he tried to position his wife Grace, 53, to be his successor.\n<\/div>\n<p>In his only press interviews since his fall, he admitted only that \u201csome errors were done\u201d under his rule, adding that he now thought his country was \u201ctopsy turvy\u201d.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By AFP. Allegations of voter fraud are mounting in Zimbabwe less than 48 hours to the first polls\u00a0 since former leader Robert Mugabe was ousted last year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe\u2019s former ally in the ruling ZANU-PF party, faces opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) party in a landmark vote [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}