There are growing international calls for calm in Zimbabwe after soldiers opened fire to disperse opposition supporters alleging fraud in Monday’s elections.
Police have confirmed that three people were killed during protests in the capital, Harare.
The protests followed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s announcement that Zanu-PF had attained a two-thirds majority in parliament.
The United Nations has called on the leaders and people of Zimbabwe to exercise restraint and reject all forms of violence.
The Secretary General’s deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq says the UN is monitoring the situation on the ground.
He says: “We have been monitoring and we are concerned about the reports that there have been incidents of violence in some parts of Zimbabwe. We’d like to remind the incumbents and political parties about the commitments they made in the peace pledge and the code of conduct to ensure a peaceful electoral process.”
“We call on the political leaders and the population as a whole to exercise restraint and reject any form of violence while awaiting resolution of the disputes and announcement of the election results,” adds Haq.
Presidential results expected Thursday
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has taken a U-Turn and says the presidential results will no longer be announced on Wednesday, but on Thursday.
The commission says there are still processes being followed to allow candidates to verify the results.
The ruling ZANU-PF party has secured over 140 seats of the 210 in the National Assembly, making it the majority party in National Assembly.
International observer missions, including SADeC, the African Union, COMESA, SADeC Parliamentary Forum and the Electoral Commission’s Forum of SADeC have praised the ZEC for a job well-done in facilitating the Zimbabwe elections in a manner that is of international standards.
On Wednesday, all the organisations tabled their preliminary reports on what they have observed building up and during the elections.
Meanwhile, the Head of SADeC’s Electoral Observer Mission, Manuel Domingos Augusto says Zimbabwe’s election was held in a peaceful and orderly manner. – Additional reporting by Abongile Dumako in Harare.
