Mwonzora Says Not Interested In 2023 Election Results
MDC leader Douglas Mwonzora says he is not interested in the outcome of the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections because the party was not involved in the electoral process, reported NewsDay.
Mwonzora withdrew from the presidential race citing an unfair electoral playing field but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) included his name on the ballot paper and he garnered 28 883 votes.
Addressing the media in Harare on Monday, 28 August 2023, Mwonzora said the MDC boycotted the elections because the whole process was flawed. He said:
We had nothing to do with the results of the elections. We made it clear that we are not in this election, so we are not interested in the results of this election. Those who were in this election can advise us better.
We had no dog in the fight. We disagree because this election is fundamentally flawed on the basis of delimitation, on the basis of discrimination, on the basis of disenfranchisement of other people.
He also said ZEC retained his name on the presidential ballot paper despite his withdrawal from the race to allocate him a figure. Said Mwonzora:
I am not interested in the figure. I told them I was not interested in their election and I have very little interest in the results of this election because they are not very meaningful to us.
What we do know is that the condition for free and fair elections has not existed for us because 87 of our candidates were disenfranchised and people were denied the right to exercise their right.
Mwonzora took over the MDC from Nelson Chamisa in 2020 following a court ruling that nullified the latter’s ascendancy to the presidency following the death of party founder Morgan Tsvangirai in February 2018.
Some political commentators said ZANU PF used State institutions to facilitate Mwonzora’s takeover of the MDC in order to divide and weaken the party which won the majority of parliamentary seats in 2008.
More: Pindula News
