Presidential and parliamentary elections kick off in Zimbabwe

Baku. 30 July. REPORT.AZ/ Presidential and parliamentary elections have started in Zimbabwe, Report informs citing the Reuters.

Voting at 10,985 polling stations has began at 07:00 local time (09:00 Baku time) and will last until 19:00. According to the Election Commission, more than 5.7 million citizens will be able to take part in elections. The results should be announced on August 4.

23 candidates apply for the highest state post of the African country, but the main struggle will unfold between the 75-year - old incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagva, who heads the ruling "Zimbabwe African national Union-Patriotic front" (ZANU-PF) and the leader of the Alliance of seven opposition parties rallied around the "Movement for democratic change" (MDC), 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa.

On the eve of the vote, experts noted that the opponents had approximately equal rating and the second round was not excluded. Representatives of 55 parties will compete for seats in Zimbabwe Parliament.

The elections will be the first in the history of the country that declared independence in 1980, in which the historical leader of the national liberation movement Robert Mugabe, removed from power by the military coup in November 2017, does not participate.