Mnangagwa says, '2018 poll losers must accept result'

The loser of the make-or-break 2018 elections should "gracefully" accept the result and help the winner deliver promises made to the electorate, acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

This comes as MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has declared that he would not accept the outcome of next year's presidential election if he were to lose.

Mnangagwa told Parliament's Open Day symposium yesterday that the result of the upcoming elections does not mean the end of the world.

"In the wake of the upcoming harmonised election, let me hasten to say that political legitimacy must be derived through political representation availed by a free and fair plebiscite and that those who lose in this game must gracefully accept and assist and monitor the winner in the implementation of people-centred policies," Mnangagwa said.

Tsvangirai has been quick to suggest that President Robert Mugabe is confident to participate in next year's elections because he wants to rig elections.

"Munhu ane 93 anovimba nechii? (Where does a 93-year-old person get the confidence to participate in elections?)," Tsvangirai said while addressing workers' that gathered at Dzivaresekwa Stadium to commemorate Workers' Day.

"He wants to cheat. He thinks he can get away with cheating to win.

"We know what you are doing, we have all the information that you want to cheat again like you did with Nikuv in 2013, but this time around it will not happen.

"Takanangana nema elections ari kuuya (Speaking of the forthcoming elections in) 2018, there is no outcome yatinobvuma isiri (which we will accept besides a) victory for the opposition . . . Ini 2018 kana ndisina kuhwina handibvume (If I do not win in 2018, I will not accept the results).

"Because it's very simple, how does a minority win over the majority?

"How does a divided, fragmented minority win over the united opposition and a united alternative to the people?" Tsvangirai queried.

Meanwhile, Mnangangwa paid tribute to various initiatives of public involvement which have been focused on bringing Parliament closer to the people.

He said the transitional and transformative journey of Parliament from a colonial to a democratic institution had been long and arduous but still had some way to go to become a finished article.

He said since independence, the new Parliament has been determined to transform the constitutional and legislative framework of Zimbabwe's "body politic by legislating for the empowerment of the masses."