Robert Mugabe has said he will not vote for his former party Zanu-PF or the current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, just one day before Zimbabwe’s historic election, which will be held today (Monday ).

In his first major statement since being ousted by the military last November, the 94-year-old former dictator told reporters in Harare he would be voting for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country’s biggest opposition party, and its candidate, 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa.

“I cannot vote for the party or those in power who caused me to be in this condition. I cannot vote for them, I can’t,” Mugabe said at a hastily called, chaotic press conference in the garden of his home in Harare. “[Chamisa] seems to be doing well at his rallies … I wish to meet him if he wins. Whoever wins, we wish him well … And let us accept the verdict.”

It is unclear how the intervention will influence the close contest. Most opinion polls are predicting a very close contest between current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and young challenger, Nelson Chamisa.

Mugabe’s call to vote out what he described as an “unconstitutional and illegal” government may win over some voters, but put off others.