Mugabe poised to win, rival claims fraud
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E-mail XInhua, August 2, 2013
Even though the results of Zimbabwe's watershed elections were not announced, strong indications have emerged a day after the voting that veteran president Robert Mugabe is leading.
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Zimbabwe's incumbent President and presidential candidate of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) Robert Mugabe (R) casts his ballot at a polling station in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, July 31, 2013. Robert Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader at 89, said Wednesday that he will serve a full five-year term if re-elected into the office. A total of 6.4 million registered voters in Zimbabwe lined up to cast their ballots at 9,735 polling stations on Wednesday to choose a president, legislators and local councilors. [Photo/Xinhua/Meng Chenguang] |
Early Friday, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced the results of elections of 62 parliamentary seats. Mugabe's Zimbabwe Africa National Union -- Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) -- won 52 seats, leaving only ten to his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party.
ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau told reporters that collation and verification of results was progressing well and the final results can be expected earliest by later Friday.
The initial parliamentary election results also showed that Zanu-PF had reclaimed some seats that it lost to the MDC-T in the 2008 elections, among them in urban areas.
In the 2008 elections, MDC-T won 100 out of 210 parliamentary seats while Zanu-PF won 99. Mugabe lost to Tsvangirai -- 47.9 percent to 43.2 percent -- in the first round of the presidential race, but won overwhelmingly in the run-off after Tsvangirai pulled out, citing widespread violence against his supporters.
In the run-up to the July 31 elections, Mugabe, having vowed to fight like a "wounded beast" , said he is confident of a landslide victory.
"Our chances are as good as in 1980 when we began," the octogenarian leader said on the eve of the polls, responding to a Xinhua reporter's question.
Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader at 89, has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence.in 1980.
State news agency New Ziana reported Friday that Mugabe is tipped to win by many independent analysts and surveys. It also quoted an unnamed Zanu-PF official as claiming that "We have crushed MDC-T."
About 6.4 million Zimbabweans were registered to vote in Wednesday's general elections. Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, is trying his third attempt over a decade to unseat Mugabe.
Regarded as Mugabe's most serious challenger in politics since 1997, Tsvangirai on Thursday cried foul of the election, saying it is a huge "farce" and does not reflect the will of the people.
A visibly angry Tsvangirai refused to take questions at a press conference held in the party's headquarters, but only issued a written statement.
"The election has been heavily manipulated." Tsvangirai said, "The credibility has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affect the legitimacy of its outcome."
"In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate," he said, adding that the consequence of the illegitimacy of the results will plunge the country into a serious crisis.
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