Nelson Chamisa, former leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), announced his abrupt resignation from the party Thursday on X (formerly known as twitter).

In his full statement to the press, Chamisa accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa, leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and his followers of “hijacking” the CCC through state institutions in order to maintain their power and render the CCC useless. In addition, Chamisa accused Mnangagwa and his party of intimidation and violence on Zimbabwean citizens during and after elections in order to influence the outcome. As a result, Chamisa alleged that the latest 2023 election was not legitimate due to fraud, corruption and authoritarian tactics on behalf of Mnangagwa and his party.

International election watchdogs, joined by the general international community, and the Southern African Development Community’s Electoral Observation Mission have expressed concern over the results due to election intimidation, the closure of several polls and delays in the voting process. Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in the preceding weeks stating that the government had failed to meet the international standards for assuring a free and fair election. Included in the report were allegations that the ZANU-PF had banned political rallies by opposing parties in rural areas, that they utilized the judicial system to arbitrarily detain political opponents and they have not enshrined basic human rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.