Zimbabwe’s Opposition Rejects Court Ruling on Incumbent President's Victory

17:55 GMT, 25 August 2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the main opposition coalition in Zimbabwe, rejected the Constitutional Court ruling on Saturday which endorsed incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa's victory in the July 30 presidential vote.

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"Respecting the decision of the Constitutional Court does not by definition mean accepting, you can respect, but not agree with the Constitutional Court and I respectfully disagree and reject the [court’s] position," Chamisa said at a press conference.

The opposition leader noted that confirming the legitimacy of the vote is not a duty of the Constitutional Court and added that the Zimbabweans have the right to “scrutinize” the court’s decision.

Chamisa added that the opposition plans to launch peaceful protests among other measures in order to achieve results.

On Friday, the court confirmed that Mnangagwa had been duly re-elected. The legal process was initiated by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance, which claimed that it had sufficient evidence to void the results over election irregularities.

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The MDC Alliance secured 64 out of 210 seats in the National Assembly, while its candidate Chamisa came second in the presidential race with 44.3 percent of the vote. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) secured an absolute majority in the National Assembly with 144 seats while its candidate, Mnangagwa, was named the country's president.

The US State Department called on Zimbabwe’s opposition on Friday to accept vote outcome and respect the court’s decision.