Zimbabwe Opposition On Deadline To Appeal Election Result
Sumaira FH Published August 10, 2018 | 09:24 PM
Zimbabwe's opposition faced a midnight deadline on Friday to mount a court challenge to the results of presidential elections marked by allegations of fraud and followed by a government crackdown.
Harare, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Aug, 2018 ) :Zimbabwe's opposition faced a midnight deadline on Friday to mount a court challenge to the results of presidential elections marked by allegations of fraud and followed by a government crackdown.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alleges that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's slender victory in Zimbabwe's first post-Mugabe election was rigged.
Mnangagwa, who is seeking to reverse Zimbabwe's economic isolation and attract desperately needed foreign investment, had vowed the elections would turn a page on Robert Mugabe's repressive 37-year rule.
International monitors largely praised the conduct of the election itself, although EU observers said that Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe ally, benefitted from an "un-level playing field" and some voter intimidation.
Mnangagwa of the ruling ZANU-PF party won the presidential race with 50.8 percent of the vote -- just enough to avoid a run-off against the MDC's Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3 percent.
Chamisa has called the election results as "falsified and inflated" to ensure Mnangagwa won.
The MDC must lodge its appeal at the Constitutional Court by the end of Friday -- seven days after the results were announced.
A court clerk told AFP that the MDC had until midnight (2200 GMT), although the court closes at 4:00 pm.
MDC spokesmen were not immediately available to comment, but party lawyer Thanbani Mpofu last week said that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's figures "grossly, mathematically fail to tally".
He said the party had evidence "for the purposes, not just of mounting a credible and sustainable challenge, but that will yield a vacation of the entire process." - Courts favour ruling party? - Analysts say that the legal challenge has little chance of success given the courts' historic tilt towards the ZANU-PF, which has ruled since independence from British colonial rule in 1980.
But the court action could delay Mnangagwa's inauguration, scheduled for Sunday.
The polls' aftermath has been marred by allegations of a crackdown on opposition members, including beatings and arrests.
On August 1, soldiers opened fire on MDC protesters, killing six people and sparking an international outcry.
Also on Friday, lawyers for senior opposition figure Tendai Biti asked judges to throw out charges against him over the protests against alleged election fraud, in a case raising further international concern about the new government.
Diplomats and election observers were present at the court hearing in Harare after Biti fled to Zambia but was handed back to Zimbabwean police despite claiming asylum.
He faces charges of inciting the protests last week by proclaiming victory for the opposition.
"Zimbabwe faces a terrible threat from a group of people that has no respect for the law," Biti, who was granted bail Thursday, told the court.
Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter that Biti was released after he intervened personally in the case.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, established under the 2013 constitution, on Friday released a damning report into the post-election crackdown.
It said it had received numerous complaints of intimidation, often by men in military uniform, of voters thought to have backed the opposition.
"The ZHRC has established that there is hunting down and harassment of polling agents for independent candidates and opposition political parties," it said.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the EU, US, Canadian and Australian missions to Zimbabwe urged authorities to guarantee Biti's safety and human rights.
They said they were "deeply disturbed by continuing reports that opposition supporters are being targeted by members of the Zimbabwean security forces".
The president, the ZANU-PF party and the electoral commission have denied all charges of cheating.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Turkey's Freedom Flotilla ready to set sail for Gaza
French teen dies from heart failure after knife attack near school
Iranians appear unfazed by Isfahan blasts
UAF celebrates Int'l Chinese Language Day
Mirpur Police arrest 68 suspects of food outlet attack
Ecuador mayor killed ahead of anti-crime referendum: police
Flooding on Chitral-Peshawar Highway strands travelers
Bilawal Bhutto demands govt to hold tripartite dialogue to curb terrorism
Punjab ombudsman facilitates over 1.36 crore payment to victims
Croatia top court bars president from becoming next PM
Leghari seeks KP Govt’s cooperation in anti-power theft campaign
Sehwan Development Authority's staff protests against non-payment of salaries
More Stories From World
-
Turkey's Freedom Flotilla ready to set sail for Gaza
6 minutes ago -
French teen dies from heart failure after knife attack near school
6 minutes ago -
Iranians appear unfazed by Isfahan blasts
16 minutes ago -
Ecuador mayor killed ahead of anti-crime referendum: police
34 minutes ago -
Croatia top court bars president from becoming next PM
34 minutes ago -
Lacking storm drains, Dubai sees persistent flooding
1 hour ago
-
West Bank villagers vigilant but vulnerable after settler attacks
1 hour ago -
Calls for calm after reported Israeli strike on Iran
1 hour ago -
Iran blasts rattle global markets
1 hour ago -
Photography is 'mirror on society': Sebastiao Salgado
1 hour ago -
Zelensky says NATO must choose 'whether we indeed are allies'
1 hour ago -
Kenya mourns defence chief killed in helicopter crash
1 hour ago