MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance, the main opposition coalition in Zimbabwe, on Friday rejected the Constitutional Court ruling which endorsed incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa's victory in the July 30 presidential vote and pledged to unveil soon a "vigorous" program of action in response to "election theft."
Earlier in the day, the court confirmed that Mnangagwa had been duly re-elected. The legal process was initiated by a legal challenge from the alliance which claimed that it had sufficient evidence to void the results over election irregularities.
"The MDC notes with grave concern and rejects todays evidently captured decision of the Constitutional Court to endorse a patently sham election and to entrench an illegitimate regime that used brazen subterfuge and brutal violence to steal the peoples vote. While we respect the Court, we dont accept its manifestly unjust decision," an MDC statement, obtained by Sputnik, said.
The statement questioned independence and impartiality of the judiciary, noting that the judge rejected the alliances Zimbabwe Electoral Commission server subpoena and its additional evidence and also "harassed" its legal representative.
The alliance pledged to never accept the results of the vote and unveil its program of action in the coming days.
"Over the next few days, we will be announcing a vigorous programme of action in response to this electoral theft of the century. Specifically, we are going to show Mr. Mnangagwa and the world that the peaceful masses have rejected him. They will never accept him. Our constitution is our shield and the rights expressed therein will be utilised to the fullest extent of the law," it stressed.
The MDC Alliance secured 64 out of 210 seats in the National Assembly, and its candidate, Nelson Chamisa, came second in the presidential race with 44.3 percent of the vote. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) secured an absolute majority in the National Assembly with 144 seats while its candidate, Mnangagwa, was named the country's president.
