First Post-Mugabe Vote Begins With Zimbabwe Revival at Stake
- Voting proceeds smoothly, peacefully in the capital, Harare
- Concerns remain about credibility of election, analyst says
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Zimbabweans voted Monday for a new leader in a too-close-to-call election, the first since independence from white-minority rule in 1980 that doesn’t feature Robert Mugabe’s name on the ballot paper.
After nearly two decades of political turmoil, a credible vote would help provide the southern African nation with a foundation to begin rebuilding its battered international reputation and an economy largely laid to ruin during the latter half of Mugabe’s 37-year rule. While the campaign has been mostly peaceful, the success of the election will be determined by whether rival parties accept the result, with the main opposition already having complained that the odds are stacked against it.