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Zimbabweans voted peacefully on Wednesday to elect a new president, lawmakers and councillors. The campaigns for the polls were peaceful with supporters and officials of political parties co-existing in an exemplary manner.As the release of the results of the elections begin, we urge the nation to maintain the peace and also to accept the results of the elections.
We appeal to candidates who contested in the elections to desist from issuing reckless statements that might whip up people’s emotions.
Yesterday the police said peace and tranquility continued to prevail in the country, a day after Zimbabweans voted in a fiercely fought general election.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said no incidents of politically-motivated violence were reported countrywide yesterday.
“The environment is very peaceful and calm across the country. Police officers are still firm on the ground; we are fully deployed,” she said.
With the exception of some activists belonging to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party who were arrested for attempting to rig the election, the process was largely incident-free.
The election period is not over until after the release of the full results and the inauguration of the winner of the presidential election. It is in that vein that we commend Zimbabweans for conducting themselves in a mature way and we call on them to continue on that path until the full process has been completed.
Any mischief is likely to bring mayhem in our country and undo the good we had witnessed during the campaigns and the voting itself.
We were disturbed to learn Mr Tsvangirai’s claims that the election was a “farce” and a “sham”, which does not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
Yesterday the MDC-T leader was already dismissing the outcome of the election even before the full results had been announced.
We remind him of the undertaking he made that he would accept the results if it was the will of the people of Zimbabwe to vote Zanu-PF and President Mugabe into Government.
Mr Tsvangirai says his party will not recognise the outcome of Wednesday’s elections citing irregularities in the voting process.
“I am sure most of you are aware of the developments around elections and what is emerging throughout the country. Our conclusion has been that this has been a huge farce.
The credibility of this election has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affect the legitimacy of its outcome,” he said.
“In other words, it is our view that this election is null and void and does not meet the Sadc and AU international guidelines for a credible free and fair election.”
But the MDC-T leader and his party risk being lone voices because the people of Zimbabwe have spoken and spoken emphatically for that matter.
Indications are pointing to a Zanu-PF victory and Mr Tsvangirai and his party are now on a warpath to discredit the polls. We urge them to desist from making unsubstantiated claims and provide evidence to the relevant authorities of whatever grievances they have.
However, we doubt if anyone will buy their story because their woeful performance in the election was also predicted by opinion surveys done by institutions and organisations based in Western countries, which support the MDC-T.
Observer groups to the polls have also endorsed the elections as peaceful and despite a few challenges they have declared them as exhibiting the free will of the people of Zimbabwe, in their preliminary reports.
The African Union and the Southern African Development Community Observer Missions have described the elections as successful, free and fair.
Online Reporter