Chamisa's CCC demands Zimbabwe poll re-run

Main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has demanded a rerun of Zimbabwe's just ended elections which have been rejected as flawed by both Zanu-PF opponents and foreign observer missions.

Fear and anxiety grips the country in the wake of a poll which saw incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa declared winner with 52,6 percent of the vote – enough to earn him another five-year term at the helm of the troubled country.

In the aftermath of the August 23 to 24 election Zimbabwe is in a political stalemate with CCC refusing to accept the result.

Addressing the media in Harare on Tuesday, CCC deputy spokesperson Ostallos Siziba said a fresh election will extricate Zimbabwe from its current political conundrum.

"In the current political crisis, the only way this sacred right can be fulfilled, the only way can resolve the current predicament we are facing as a people, the citizens Coalition for Change led by Advocate Nelson Chamisa has assessed the situation and has made the following clear and emphatic demands; that to restore pure democracy and legitimacy in our country, we are not going to settle for less, other than a free, fair, credible and a proper election.

"The solution lies in calling upon our African brothers to facilitate, to mediate, to scaffold and more importantly, to guarantee a process that will lead our return to legitimacy in the shortest period.

"This election that we are coming from, was a flawed process in its entirety for avoidance of doubt and the solution to put it very clearly is to have a fresh, free, fair and credible election," said Siziba.

Zimbabwe's plebiscite was condemned by SADC and other foreign observer missions as failing to pass the country's constitutional benchmarks.

ZEC was fingered as having abetted the holding of a flawed poll which was skewed in favour of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

"ZEC failed the credibility test, the transparency test and the professional test and therefore, ZEC failed its fidelity to the Zimbabwean constitution and ZEC must be disbanded, and a credible player, a professional player, scaffolded by regional and international players is the only way to have a free fair election.

"We said we need a fresh new and proper election in this country whose process is scaffolded by SADC, by African Union, by all other interested parties interested in the democracy of this country," Siziba said.

Mnangagwa and his party have dismissed claims the poll was flawed, insisting the outcome was a genuine expression of the Zimbabwean population.

The Zimbabwe strongman has told opponents who are not satisfied by his victory to exhaust legal channels in registering their concerns.