No presidential results today: Zimbabwe electoral body says

Zimbabwe’s electoral commission chairperson has said the first presidential results could be announced on Thursday, even as the EU observer mission warned that delays could negatively affect credibility for the vote.

Priscilla Chigumba, who was taking questions from journalists after announcing the final results of the National Assembly vote, explained that the commission has been overwhelmed by the unprecedented number of presidential candidates (23).

‘‘While all the results from the polling stations across the country are now available at the national tally center, agents of all the 23 presidential candidates must verify all the V11 forms, before national tallying and announcement can be made,’‘ Chigumba explained.

Chigumba added that the results could be further delayed by the fact that some results that were posted outside polling stations have been disputed by some agents.

Opposition cries foul

The main opposition party and ZESN, a domestic election monitor, had on Tuesday said one in five polling stations, more than 2000 in all, had not physically posted tallies on their doors, as required by law.

‘‘It depends on whether those who disagree with something would like to use legal remedies but sometime tomorrow, we should be able to advise you what time we can start announcing presidential election results,’‘ Chigumba said.

Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF has attained two-thirds majority in the National Assembly of parliament, which allows the party to change the constitution at will, official results showed.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF swept most rural constituencies by large margins while the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change won in urban centres.

EU observer mission says Zimbabwe election falls short of credibility test