Leading Zimbabwe pastor warns elections may be rigged

Geneva (AFP) - A prominent Zimbabwean activist voiced doubt Tuesday that upcoming elections -- the first since Robert Mugabe's ouster -- will be credible, as the new president's commitment to basic rights was still unclear.

Evan Mawarire, a pastor who became the face of anti-Mugabe demonstrations last year, told AFP that Zimbabwe's legacy of ballot rigging and political repression would take time to shed.

"It's very difficult for me right now to believe that elections will be free, fair and credible because the history says otherwise", Mawarire said on the sidelines of the Geneva human rights summit, referring to Mugabe's tyrannical 37-year rule.

"What they have done for 38 years is very different from what they are proposing they are going to do now".

Zimbabwe's new President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a long-standing Mugabe ally, has vowed that elections due by July will be credible and promised to honour the legacy of opposition stalwart Morgan Tsvangirai who died after a battle with cancer last week.


Source : Yahoo News