Zanu-PF president Robert Mugabe.
Zanu-PF president Robert Mugabe cast his vote in his Highfield hometown outside Harare, vowing to serve his full five-year term should his party win this election. Mugabe is seeking a seventh term in Zimbabwe's presidential office and has been president since the country gained independence in 1980.
Zanu-PF insiders have been spreading word that hardliners in the party only agreed to allow Mugabe to be the face of elections to secure victory, but prefer that he leaves office in the middle of a term and be replaced by a younger leader. The new Constitution allows the party that has won elections to pick a successor should a sitting president resign or die while in power.
"Why not?" Mugabe asked when questioned if he would complete his five-year term. "Why should I offer myself as a candidate when I know I won't finish my term?"
In an interview with talk show host Dali Tambo in June, the 89-year-old Mugabe made it clear he was not ready to quit, saying the people of Zimbabwe still needed him.
"And when people still need you to lead them it's not time – it doesn't matter how old you are – to say goodbye," he said.
'Go and rest'
Even Mugabe's opponent, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai – who also cast his vote on Wednesday morning in Mount Pleasant, Harare – called for the president to retire.
"This time around we must tell him [Mugabe] to go and rest. Come August 1, Mugabe will be history," Tsvangirai said.
But Mugabe didn't appear worried about those who want him out. He instead highlighted some of his priorities for the next term. The indigenisation of the mining sector and agriculture are on top of his list, he told journalists outside the polling station just after he had voted.
Mugabe arrived in Highveld, where he was staying before he became the country's president, with his wife and three children in tow. He said he strongly believed people would vote "freely and fairly" without pressure from anyone.
"So far so good," he said about his assessment of the election day.
Elections kicked off to a smooth start in Harare and neighbouring townships on Wednesday, as people prepared to cast their vote for a new government.
Efficient
In Mbare, an overpopulated township on the outskirts of Harare, voters commended this year's peaceful elections and what by Wednesday morning appeared to be an efficient start to the big day. Polling stations opened at 7am. Two hours was the maximum time most voters spent standing in the queue.
Douglas Kupara voted at the biggest polling station in Mbare after waiting on a snaking queue from 5.30am until just after 8am. "It's amazing what's going on today," he said. "The weather is calm, everybody is happy and wants peace." It took Kupara less than five minutes inside the voting tent to cast his vote.
First time voter Darlington Makhina (21) voted for change, he said. Just like other voters, he refused to say which party he voted for, an indication that the scars of the 2008 violent election remain. A small business owner, Makhina believes that with the choice he made, "my life will be changed for the better". "We want jobs," he said. Makhina operates a small window frame store in Magaba in Mbare.
At an impromptu press conference held at State House on Tuesday, Mugabe said he was ready to give up power should he lose the election.
He also made it clear his aim was not to be in a government of national unity with MDC as it's been since 2008, but did say he has worked well with the two MDC leaders: Tsvangirai of the MDC-T and Arthur Mutambara of the other MDC faction.