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Zimbabwe's presidential inauguration delayed as election results challenged in court

Zimbabwe's presidential inauguration has been delayed after the main opposition party filed a cou...
Newstalk
Newstalk

18.51 10 Aug 2018


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Zimbabwe's presidentia...

Zimbabwe's presidential inauguration delayed as election results challenged in court

Newstalk
Newstalk

18.51 10 Aug 2018


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Zimbabwe's presidential inauguration has been delayed after the main opposition party filed a court challenge to the recent election results.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zanu-PF party had been due to be sworn in tomorrow following last week's election.

Results from the country's electoral commission showed Mnangagwa with 50.8% of the vote - a result which meant the current president narrowly avoided a run-off vote.

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However, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) today filed papers as part of their legal challenge to the result.

In a short tweet, MDC leader Nelson Chamisa - who secured 44.3% of the presidential vote according to official results - said: "Our legal team successfully filed our court papers.We have a good case and cause!!"

In response to the challenge, Zanu-PF's legal secretary Paul Mangwana said: "I am confident they have no case. Elections are not won in court, they are won in the field.

"But if they want to meet us in court we have sufficient legal minds to meet them squarely in court."

Election results

On the subject of the inauguration, Zimbabwe's Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi explained: "It will no longer happen. For now it has been stayed pending determination of the court challenge."

The MDC has publicly disputed the results of the country's first election since the ousting of Robert Mugabe, slamming the official results as 'fake'.

They must now prove there were irregularities in the vote that were significant enough to change the outcome of the election.

Judges will now have 14 days to rule on the case - and could potentially declare a winner or call another vote.

EU election monitors said the vote in Zimbabwe was 'competitive', but warned there was an un-level playing field in favour of the ruling party during the pre-election campaign.

Post-election violence in the Zimbabwean capital Harare saw opposition protesters clash with security forces, leaving at least six people dead.

Additional reporting by IRN


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