Nelson Chamisa was set to address journalists about his rejection of the Zimbabwe election results when anti-riot police armed with batons and shields briefly broke up the press conference on August 3, according to the Times.
Chamisa, the leader of the MDC Alliance, lost the election to Emmerson Mnangagwa, though he claimed an early victory before the election results were released on August 2. Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF won two-thirds of the seats in parliament, according to a tweet from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Mnangagwa tweeted that the disturbance at the news conference had “no place in our society” and that the government was investigating the incident further.
The press conference proceeded shortly after anti-riot police left the scene, according to the Washington Post.
Zimbabwe took to the polls on July 31 for the first time since the 2017 removal of Robert Mugabe, also of the ZANU-PF party. Mugabe had been president for 30 years after serving as prime minister for seven years. Credit: Dewa Mavhinga via Storyful