Zimbabwe rivals upbeat amid tight vote

Zimbabwe is awaiting the results of its landmark elections, with both front runners saying they are confident.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he had received “extremely positive” information but opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said his party was “winning resoundingly”.

Zimbabwe is voting for both a new president and parliament.

Monday’s vote – the first since long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe was ousted – attracted a high turnout of 75%.

The youth vote is expected to be key – with almost half of Zimbabwe’s 5.6 million registered voters under the age of 35.

This election is also the first to allow European Union and US monitors in more than a decade.

Observers say the race between Mr Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF party, and Mr Chamisa’s MDC Alliance, is extremely tight. Both men are among 23 candidates running for president.

They both hinted at victory on Tuesday, but said they were waiting for the electoral commission to announce official results, which are due by Saturday at the latest.

Good morning Zimbabwe. I am delighted by the high turnout and citizen engagement so far. The information from our reps on the ground is extremely positive! Waiting patiently for official results as per the constitution.

— President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) July 31, 2018

Winning resoundingly…We now have results from the majority of the over 10 000 polling stations. We’ve done exceedingly well. Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next gvt.#Godisinit

— Nelson Chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) July 31, 2018

They are running for the presidency for the first time, and need more than 50% of the vote to win outright.

Otherwise, a run-off election will be held on 8 September.