Zimbawean Chizema Najika, 80, arrives to vote in a polling station in a
pass cart in Harare on July 31, 2013. Zimbabweans vote today in a
general election in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was readying for an inadequately
prepared yet tight election battle that could see President Robert
Mugabe extend his 33-year grip on power. AFP/PHOTO ALEXANDER JOE
By AFP
In Summary
- Tsvangirai is up against the 89-year-old Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, who is running for election for the seventh and perhaps final time after a series of violent crackdowns, economic crises and suspect elections.
Casting his ballot Wednesday, Zimbabwe's Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai expressed confidence he will win an historic
and overwhelming victory against his veteran rival President Robert
Mugabe.
Voting in Harare's middle class suburb of Mt. Pleasant Tsvangirai predicted his party would win "quite resoundingly, I must say".
"This is a very historic moment for all of us," he added.
Tsvangirai is up against the 89-year-old Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, who is running for election for the seventh and perhaps final time after a series of violent crackdowns, economic crises and suspect elections.
So far the election has seen little of the violence that plagued previous polls and forced Tsvangirai out of the race in 2008.
But the election has been overshadowed by suspicions of vote rigging, particularly double registration of some voters on the long-delayed voter roll.
Tsvangirai described casting his ballot as an emotional moment "after all the conflict, the stalemate, the suspicion, the hostility."
There is a sense that "finally Zimbabwe will be able to move on again".
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