Zimbabwe election: Emmerson Mnangagwa wins historic vote as opposition leader rejects result

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been declared winner of Zimbabwe’s first general election since the downfall of Robert Mugabe, the nation's electoral commission has said.

The ZANU-PF leader defeated his rival Nelson Chamisa in a poll marred by violence, bloodshed and accusations of fraud, securing 50.8 per cent of the vote.

The chairman of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the party rejected the results of the election minutes before Mr Mnangagwa was declared the winner on Thursday.

After two days of claims and counterclaims, officials said 75-year-old Mnangagwa secured a comfortable victory, polling 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for 40-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.

Military clashed with protesters as violence broke out on the streets
AFP/Getty Images

It comes after an army crackdown on opposition protests amid unrest on the streets that led to the deaths of six people.

The aftermath of the election, the first since the army's removal of 94-year-old Mugabe, revealed the deep rifts in Zimbabwean society and the instinctive heavy-handedness of the security forces.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, centre, is greeted by supporters during a visit to see victims of election violence at a hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe
AP

On Wednesday, troops backed by armoured vehicles and a military helicopter were sent in to crush demonstrations by stone-throwing opposition supporters who said Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF party had rigged the elections.

Six people were killed as soldiers, some with their faces obscured by camouflage masks, opened fire with automatic weapons.

Zimbabwe Elections - In pictures

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The following day, soldiers ordered civilians off the streets of the capital, despite calls from foreign governments and international organisations for calm and for political leaders to show restraint.

Police then sealed off the headquarters of Chamisa's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) before storming the building and arresting 16 people.

The search warrant said they were looking for unlicensed firearms, grenades and stones.

Unrest: Opposition supporters protest outside the offices of Zimbabwe's electoral commission
AP

Coupled with video of soldiers firing on unarmed demonstrators on Wednesday, the raid does serious damage to Mnangagwa's efforts to rehabilitate the image of a country synonymous with political repression and economic collapse.

Questioning the independence of the judiciary, Chamisa said he was reluctant to go to court to challenge the results, saying this would be "going into the lion's den".

Military tanks in Harare as opposition supporters clashed with police
AP

"We are not about to be a meal for lions," he told reporters, alleging that Mnangagwa's ruling ZANU-PF party had rigged the poll but without providing any concrete evidence.

An MDC official briefly interrupted the results announcement to say the party rejected the result as it had not been able to verify them.

Wednesday's crackdown by the army crushed the last vestiges of euphoria that followed its removal of Mugabe in November and fuelled suspicions that the generals who launched the coup remained Zimbabwe's de facto rulers.

In Harare, the contrast could not have been starker with November, when hundreds of thousands filled the streets, hugging soldiers and celebrating their role in ousting Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe had known since independence in 1980.

"They are showing their true colours now. We thought they were our saviour in November but they fooled us," said newspaper vendor Farai Dzengera, saying that the brief dream of an end to decades of repression was over.

"What can we do? ... They run this country."

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