Mliswa says past polls were free and fair

NORTON independent legislator Mr Temba Mliswa has said the recent harmonised polls won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa were credible, free and fair.

In an interview with The Chronicle, Mr Mliswa also applauded President-elect Mnangagwa's efforts to democratise the nation and make strides in economic transformation.

"We have never been in such a good space as Zimbabweans after 37 years of being under one leader. Whether you like it or not, Mnangagwa has tried to allow democracy to prevail and has allowed for Zimbabwe to be open for business by also dealing with the indigenisation law that prohibited Foreign Direct Investment from coming in," he said.

Mr Mliswa said credit must be given to the new dispensation for creating an atmosphere which enabled the election process to be free, fair and credible.

"To me there has never been any election freer and fairer than we experienced. It was a credible one. Mnangagwa has tried to let democracy prevail. Let's talk about the pre-election environment vis-a-vis the post-election environment," he said.

"The pre-election environment was excellent. That is the reason why the opposition equally got rural votes which never happened in the Mugabe era. They were allowed to campaign in rural areas which were known to be the Zanu-PF strongholds. Credit must be given to the new dispensation for allowing that to happen."

Mr Mliswa said former President Mr Mugabe would never have allowed the opposition to challenge the election results.

"The MDC Alliance's court petition challenging the 2018 Presidential election results would not have been allowed under Robert Mugabe's administration, showing that democracy is now alive in Zimbabwe," he said.

Mr Mliswa said people should not allow the post-election events to overshadow what happened in the peaceful period created during the pre-election period.

He said the death of MDC Alliance supporters during protests in Harare was unfortunate and saluted the President's decision to set up a commission of inquiry to look into the matter.

Mr Mliswa said it was now the Constitutional Court's mandate to decide on the way forward.

"It is not a Mnangagwa issue but that of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to prove that the results they announced were correct and rebuff the MDC Alliance challenge. It is now up to them to prove that the figures that they have, according to the facts, are what really happened," said the outspoken MP.