Zimbabwean opposition leader to challenge election results

Zimbabwe opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said on Friday that he would pursue all legal and constitutional means of challenging this week's presidential election, which he lost to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

ZANU PF's Mnangagwa polled 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for MDC Alliance's Chamisa, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced in the early hours of Friday morning.

''There has been a misunderstanding regarding this election, that as far as we are concerned, this election, as the presidential result is fraudulent, illegal, illegitimate and characterised by serious credibility gaps and some serious legitimacy issues,'' Chamisa said. 

TRT World's Philip Owira has more.

Zimbabwe woke to the news that Mnangagwa, a former ally of Robert Mugabe, had won the historic first polls since the autocrat's ousting last year with 50.8 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission.

The narrow margin is just enough to avoid a run-off against Chamisa that would have been called if Mnangagwa had won less than 50 percent of the vote.

TRT World 's Reagan Des Vignes reports.

'Fake' results

Chamisa dismissed what he called the election's "unverified fake results."

"ZEC must release proper & verified results endorsed by parties," he wrote on Twitter, referring to the Zimbabwe Election Commission.

"The level of opaqueness, truth deficiency, moral decay & values deficit is baffling."

A call for unity

Mnangagwa, who was chosen as Mugabe's successor in the ruling ZANU PF party after he was removed in a brief military intervention in November, hailed his victory as a "new beginning" for Zimbabwe.

"Though we may have been divided at the polls, we are united in our dreams," he said on Twitter.

Opposition allegations of foul play had already sparked a deadly crackdown on protesters in the capital Harare on Wednesday when troops opened fire, killing six people.

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, current chair of the Southern African Development Community, urged all Zimbabweans to accept the poll results.

The streets of the capital Harare were quiet early on Friday, with traffic thinner than usual. Water cannon and anti-riot police remained outside the MDC offices, a reminder of the clashes between opposition and the security forces this week.