AFPCopyright: AFP
Analysis
Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare
Zimbabwe’s opposition party the Citizens Coalition for Change has won 19 out of 28 parliamentary seats in Saturday’s by-elections.
The ruling Zanu-PF party won the remaining nine, seizing two opposition seats.
Both parties are describing the results as wins.
It’s particularly symbolic for the CCC though, whose leader described this as a resounding victory, although he said the polls were neither free nor fair.
It’s the party’s first election contest since breaking away from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in January.
This win gives leader Nelson Chamisa the legitimacy that was stripped when the MDC expelled him last year.
The MDC won no seats, taking no votes at some polling stations.
The opposition has lost some ground in this poll – local government results, which are not confirmed, suggest Zanu-PF has also been able to capitalise on the opposition’s internal conflict and win several wards in the urban areas.
Broadly speaking this by-election changes little in parliament. Zanu-PF retains the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution if it wishes.
While the electoral commission described the polls as a success, independent observers have noted otherwise. They say the pre-election period was marred by some incidents intimidation and vote buying using food.
The national focus now turns to general elections in 2023. The electoral commission says it ready to deliver free and fair polls, but given what has transpired, the opposition doubts it can deliver on that promise.
