… as Mnangagwa wins the disputed polls
Zwnews Chief Correspondent | The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has declared the incumbent Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa of ZANU PF, winner of the presidential election 2018, with 50.8 percent, beating his main contender and MDC-Alliance president Nelson Chamisa who had 44.3 percent of the votes.
Chamisa who says has evidence that he won the popular presidential vote, is disputing the outcome. He says the results released by ZEC were not verified by his party’s electoral agent who was denied access by the electoral management body.
When the results were being announced Morgan Komichi of MDC-Alliance stood up live on camera and said his party agents did not endorse the results, the state broadcaster ZBC had to interrupt its live transmission for some seconds so that his comments were not beamed.
Meanwhile, according the laws of the country, Chamisa can approach the courts; and present his case.
It would be up to the judiciary which is alleged to be pro-ruling party to reject his claims and maintain that Mnangagwa won, or to nullify the results, in which case call for a fresh presidential poll to be held, as provided for in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
According to Section 93 of the Zimbabwean Constitution, any candidate may challenge an election of a President or Vice-President by lodging a petition or application with the Constitutional Court within seven days after the declaration of the results of the election.
Section 93, subsection (3) states that the Constitutional Court must hear that petition within fourteen days after the petition was lodged, and the court’s decision is final.
The court may declare a winner; invalidate the election, in which case a fresh election must be held within sixty days after that determination.
However, this could be a tall order for Chamisa, as the courts may delay the ruling even until the next elections. For the sake of moving forward, some think that Chamisa should just let go.
