Hope of victory rises for President Emmerson Mnangagwa as ruling party ZANU-PF claims majority seats in parliamentary polls

macfranc007 August 01, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Onyirioha Nnamdi

- Following recent authentic results, Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, has claimed most of the seats in the country's parliamentary election

- ZANU-PF claimed not less than 109 seats against 41 for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)

- The development has certainly set the stage for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory

Official results indicated that the ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe’s ruling party on Wednesday, August 1, won the majority of seats in parliament after claiming rural constituencies by huge margins.

This, no doubt, has set the stage for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory. The Zimbabwe electoral commission results showed Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF cruising to a big majority after picking up 109 seats against 41 for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Another 58 seats are yet to be declared, Reuters reports.

The House of Assembly of Parliament attracted 210 seats and ZANU-PF would need to win 30 more to have a two-thirds majority that would allow it to alter the constitution.

Voters in Zimbabwe pick a presidential candidate based on their party affiliation and the tradition in the parliamentary election was expected to be maintained when results for the president are declared by the electoral commission.

Spearheaded by Nelson Chamisa, the MDC won in most urban centres, where it enjoys more allegiance.

However, the MDC accused the election commission on Tuesday, July 31 of intentionally delaying results of the votes in a bid to favour the ruling party.

The MDC also pointed out some irregularities in the first election since the removal of Robert Mugabe in the November 2017, coup.

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Although the polls went off peacefully, several water cannon trucks patrolled outside the central Harare headquarters of the MDC as its supporters danced in jubilation across the streets.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that as vote counting continues in Zimbabwe, early projections were pointing to opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa taking an early lead.

The estimates have shown that the MDC candidate had accrued at least 65% of the total votes cast. The incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa who ran in the presidential race on a ZANU-PF ticket came second with an estimated 32%.

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