President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Sunday morning rejected allegations by the opposition that the 2023 presidential election was rigged in his favour.
He also said observer missions that criticised the country’s laws “overstepped” their mandate.
Mnangagwa addressed reporters at State House the morning after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced him as the winner with 52.6% of the poll, beating CCC’s Nelson Chamisa’s 44%.
Asked to respond to allegations by his competitors that the election was shameful and neither free nor fair, Mnangagwa said:
I can assure you that I did not conduct the elections. I competed with them in this race to win the elections.
Those who feel the race was not run fairly, should know where to go to complain.
Zimbabwe’s 2023 Harmonised Elections were criticised by the SADC observer mission, which said some parts of the electoral process fell short of standards. SEOM head Nevers Mumba said:
The mission observed that the pre-election and voting phases of the 23-24 August harmonised elections were peaceful and calm.
However, the mission noted that some aspects of the harmonised elections fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act and SADC principles governing democratic elections.
Mumba, a former Vice President of Zambia, also criticised Zimbabwean laws, including the “Patriotic Act” which is a new section of the amended criminal law that punishes Zimbabweans for conniving with foreigners to push for sanctions and foreign military intervention.
However, speaking to journalists this Sunday, Mnangagwa said that the election observers should not have an opinion on Zimbabwean laws. He said:
I’m aware that some observer missions went beyond their call of duty and began interrogation legislation passed by our Parliament.
It is my view that every sovereign state passes legislation through its legislature, and Zimbabwe is no exception.
I don’t think it’s in the mandate of election observers to interrogate institutions of a sovereign government, the judiciary, or the legislature.
I believe their mandate is to observe the transparency, peacefulness and conduct of the elections.
More: Pindula News