AN umbrella body of pressure groups, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) says Zimbabwe is potentially heading towards another coup which will emanate from disputed and resolved poll rancour.
This comes as the country held general elections Wednesday and Thursday to elect the president, legislators and councillors.
From the plebiscite, Zanu PF has emerged victorious with a lion share of seats in the national assembly and its candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa clinching a second term as the president.
Mnangagwa - who rose to power through a 2017 military coup - won the plebiscite with a 52.6 percent over his close challenger Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
The opposition has refused to accept the polls' results which it says does not tally with its parallel tabulation from polling stations.
In a statement CiZC condemned the polls saying the country is heading towards a political conundrum.
"This illegitimate election risks breeding conditions for another coup like that of November 2017 through which the then President Mugabe was deposed. Zimbabwe needs help to manage peaceful election-based transitions. It has not had that transition since Independence in 1980.
"This legitimate instalment of an unelected President creates local tension and often breeds commotion the illegitimate Government deploys force to govern," said CiZC.
Our Latest Statement
Our point of emphasis in this statement is just and legitimate: the free choice of Zimbabweans must be respected. Whilst organising a fresh Presidential election has a cost, we find the financial cost better than the cost of illegitimacy pic.twitter.com/0prG99zeGu
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-- Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (@crisiscoalition) August 27, 2023
The elections have been slammed by observer missions with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Union, Commonwealth and European Union Election Observer Mission (EUEOM).
They said the polls failed to meet the basic constitutional tenets in holding elections in the country and region.
CiZC further said in its statement that as a result of preliminary reports by the observer missions Zimbabwe risks going into a regional pariah state.
"The precedence this illegitimacy and sham election sets is a risk to the SADC and the AU as they move to deter unconstitutional means of installing governments on the continent. The SADC and the AJ yardstick of purity of their protocols and conventions have to be firmly guarded.
"The humanitarian state of Zimbabweans, both local and abroad will likely deteriorate especially for women and children as outward migration will consequentially rise," said CiZC.
