Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko told his Zimbabwean counterpart, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, to work extremely hard to win this year’s elections.
He made the remarks during the signing ceremony of eight bilateral agreements between Belarus and Zimbabwe at State House in Harare on Tuesday. He said:
My dear President, this year you’re going to face a huge challenge, presidential, parliamentary elections and local elections. This will be a huge challenge for your nation, and I hope that you will be able to pass through this. Please don’t trust liars, there are no miracles. Good results and success can only be achieved through hard work.
So, I am hopeful that this year you will make the right choice. By making the right choice make sure that you will be able to show the entire world that you deserve the independence that you won, and you’re going to preserve it further. The people of Zimbabwe deserve it, please be very mindful and careful. With all this hard work you will be able to achieve what you want to achieve.
In response to Lukansheko, Mnangagwa said his ZANU PF party was poised to win again this year. He said:
Let me assure you that since independence, Zimbabwe has never omitted to hold general elections when they fall due. Every five years we held elections since 1980 and the ruling party Zanu PF has been winning all these elections. We shall continue winning. It’s true that we are a democracy. Last elections we had over 50 political parties which contested and I had 23 presidential contenders, and this is beautiful.
The more we have people who want to become President, the merrier it is. This time around I don’t know how many want to contest. The ground is open. In Zanu PF, we are extremely confident that we are going to win these elections.
Mnangagwa’s biggest rival, based on the results of the 2018 election, is Nelson Chamisa who leads the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Chamisa, a former minister of ICT during the Government of National Unity, rejected the outcome of the 2018 presidential election arguing that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) connived with ZZANU PF and overturned results in Mnangagwa’s favour.
Alexander Lukashenko became the President of Belarus on July 20, 1994.
He won a controversial presidential election in Belarus in 2020 and was reelected as the President. The election was criticised for vote-rigging and human rights violations, causing protests and a government crackdown. The international community expressed concerns.
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