Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will serve a seventh term in office, having reportedly won 61 percent of the vote in Zimbabwe’s general elections last week, compared to 34 percent of the vote for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, despite charges of electoral fraud.
South African President Jacob Zuma extended his congratulations to Mugabe, while the United States and the United Kingdom expressed concerns about the integrity of the vote, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry saying the outcome failed to “represent a credible expression of the people.”
In an email interview with Trend Lines, James Hamill, a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester, explained that the contrast between the African and Western responses to the Zimbabwe elections is striking but not unexpected.