Zimbabweans voted on Monday in the first election since the removal of former president Robert Mugabe, a watershed moment they hope will rid the country of its pariah status and spark a recovery in its failed economy.
The election pits 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally, against 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor vying to become Zimbabwe's youngest head of state.
On the eve of the election, Mugabe emerged from eight months of obscurity since the military ousted him in a bloodless coup, to announce he would vote for the opposition, surprising former ally Mnangagwa who accused him of striking a deal with Chamisa.
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| Mnangagwa Casts Vote, Rejects Mugabe's Claim That Election Is Not Free! |
"I can assure you that this country is enjoying democratic space which has never been experienced before," Mnangagwa told public television outside the polling booth.
"In any democratic space and country, people have the freedom to express their views, negative or positive."
Opinion polls give the former intelligence chief, who took over as president after the army ousted Mugabe, only a slim lead over Chamisa. There will be a runoff on Sept. 8 if no candidate wins more than half the votes.
Nicknamed "the Crocodile", an animal famed in Zimbabwean lore for stealth and ruthlessness, Mnangagwa, of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu–PF), has pledged to revive the moribund economy, attract foreign investment and mend racial and tribal divisions.
For Zimbabwe to be welcomed back into the international fold, get rid of painful sanctions and secure the donor funding it needs to stem chronic cash shortages, observers have to sign off on the vote as being credible. Mnangagwa Casts Vote, Rejects Mugabe's Claim That Election Is Not Free!
