President of Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai (MDCT) party Nelson Chamisa delivers a speech during a worker’s day rally hosted by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) at Dzivarasekwa Stadium in Harare on May 1, 2018. (JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
President of Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai (MDCT) party Nelson Chamisa delivers a speech during a worker’s day rally hosted by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) at Dzivarasekwa Stadium in Harare on May 1, 2018. (JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
Senior opposition MDC official Tendai Biti on Tuesday said party leader Nelson Chamisa had won the Zimbabwe elections and alleged that the authorities were delaying the publication of results.
Biti, who was the respected finance minister in the 2009 – 13 power-sharing government, told a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Harare:
“The results show beyond reasonable doubt that we have won the election and that the next president of Zimbabwe is Nelson Chamisa.”
“We are however seriously concerned about evidence of interference. There is a deliberate delay in announcing the results. This delay is totally unacceptable. We have won the election, we are now daring ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) to announce the result. We have done an impossible thing.”
Who will win the Zimbabwe elections 2018?
His announcement set off celebrations among party supporters outside the building, but no official results have yet been declared. The first official round of results are due on Tuesday afternoon before official confirmation comes later in the week.
Both President Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, and Chamisa earlier said they were ahead in the count after Monday’s election, the country’s first vote since the resignation of longtime ruler Robert Mugabe.
MDC declare themselves winners ahead of official results
Chamisa, in particular, has been in a bullish mood about the impending results. Bravado or otherwise, it seems as if the opposition think they’ve pulled it off:
Winning resoundingly…We now have results from the majority of the over 10 000 polling stations. We’ve done exceedingly well. Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next gvt.#Godisinit
— Nelson Chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) July 31, 2018
ZANU-PF has had an iron grip on power since independence from British colonial rule in 1980, and a victory for the opposition would be a major upset.
