SANF 08 No 43
Robert Mugabe has been sworn into office for another five-year term as President of Zimbabwe following the contested presidential election run-off on 27 June.
Speaking after taking the Oath of Office and Loyalty in Harare, Mugabe reiterated his call for comprehensive inter-party dialogue.
“Indeed, it is my hope that sooner rather than later, we shall, as diverse political parties, hold consultations towards such serious dialogue as will minimise our differences and enhance the area of unity and co-operation,” Mugabe said after being sworn in by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku.
“Our challenge today and in the years ahead is to move forward in unity, regardless of our diverse political affiliations, united by the sense of a common vision and destiny for a prosperous Zimbabwe.”
He paid tribute to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and its mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, for the role he played in the inter-party dialogue prior to the elections.
“Zimbabwe is indebted to his untiring efforts to promote harmony and peace.
“Indeed, this last election saw certain constitutional amendments he facilitated in the inter-party dialogue getting their first application.”
According to final results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on 29 June, Mugabe won 2,150,269 votes against 233,000 votes for the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who withdrew less than a week before the election, citing violence and intimidation.
The ZEC ruled that it was too late for a withdrawal and his name remained on the ballot.
The Zimbabwean Constitution and electoral law stipulates that a second round must be held between the top two presidential candidates in the event that no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the first round.
According to ZEC figures, Mugabe won in all 10 provinces, including Harare and Bulawayo, which had an exceptionally low turnout. Opposition parties have refused to accept the results.
The nation-wide voter turnout was just over 42 percent of registered voters, the same number who went to the polls in the first-round election in March. There were more than 100,000 spoiled ballot papers.
After announcing the results, the Chief Elections Officer, Lovemore Sekeramayi, declared Mugabe duly elected, and he was immediately sworn in again as President.
He took the oath of office in front of a small gathering of officials and politicians, but few diplomats, and left shortly after for the African Union summit in Egypt.
More than 600 election observers were deployed throughout the country for the polls, mainly from SADC, which provided 400 observers, with the remainder from the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament.
The observer missions were critical of the process, citing politically motivated violence in the pre-election period “resulting in loss of life, damage to property, and serious injuries” as well as displacement of persons, hindering political activities.
“All role-players acknowledged the existence of politically motivated violence,” SADC said, “but differed regarding the nature, extent, causes and origins of this violence and its impact on the electoral process.”
Two days before the election, the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) issued a statement calling on participants to refrain from violence, and urging the relevant authorities to ensure law and order.
The observer missions questioned the credibility of the elections and the SEOM said in a preliminary statement that the elections did not represent the will of the people, although they said Election Day was peaceful and the ZEC arrangements “technically competent”.
Commenting on voter turnout, the ZEC Deputy Chief Elections Officer (Operations) Utloile Silaigwana said the percentage vote was almost identical to the one for the harmonised polls of 29 March.
“We realise that almost the same number of voters who cast their votes in March voted in this election,” he said.
In the March harmonised election, President Mugabe received 1,079,730 votes representing 43.2 percent of the valid votes compared to Tsvangirai’s 1,195,562 votes, which represented 47.9 percent of the valid vote.
Mugabe’s party, Zanu PF, also won two of the three House of Assembly by-elections held on 27 June. Tsvangirai’s party, MDC-T, won the other seat. Both MDC formations participated in the by-elections and there were several independent candidates.
Zanu PF won Redcliff and Gwanda South constituencies while the opposition MDC-T took Pelandaba-Mpopoma, defeating the information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu. This brings the total Zanu PF seats in Parliament to 99 against 100 for the MDC-T and 6 for the other MDC formation.
