A projection by Zimbabwe’s ruling party shows opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will beat President Robert Mugabe in the country’s election but a run-off will be needed, Zanu-PF party sources said on Tuesday.
Two senior sources who asked not to be named said projections showed Tsvangirai getting 48,3%, against Mugabe’s 43%, with third candidate Simba Makoni taking 8%. For an outright victory, a candidate must get 51%.
”What this means is that we are looking at a re-run because he did not win with a margin of over 51% that would have given him the job straight away,” one of the sources said.
A projection by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) also predicted a run-off, with Tsvangirai taking 49,4% and Mugabe 41,8%. Makoni, a Zanu-PF defector, would get 8,2%.
The opposition is expected to unite behind one candidate if there is a run-off, which would be held three weeks after last Saturday’s election.
A senior Western diplomat told Reuters a re-run was likely.
”We can all speculate about what they [Zanu-PF] did or did not do. But when you look at some of the projections by other observers, such as ZESN, they are pointing to a rerun,” he said.
The Zanu-PF projection showed Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) narrowly winning the lower house of Parliament but the government retaining control of the Senate.
Three days after the most important vote since independence, only 109 out of 210 parliamentary constituencies had been declared, showing Zanu-PF two seats ahead of the MDC.
Meanwhile, riot police in armoured carriers patrolled two of Harare’s opposition strongholds overnight and residents were told to stay off the normally bustling streets.
Patience
The opposition alleges a long delay in issuing presidential election results is covering rigging by Mugabe.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) urged voters to remain patient on Tuesday.
”The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would like to advise the nation that it is currently receiving the presidential results from various provinces,” chief elections officer Lovemore Sekeramayi said in a statement.
”The verification and collation of these results will commence in the presence of all candidates or their national chief election agents once all the results have been received.
”We would therefore like to urge the nation to remain patient as we go through this meticulous verification process.”
The commission has so far announced a little over half the results from a simultaneous parliamentary election.
Harare residents also expressed concern about the delayed results.
”I wonder why the ZEC is delaying with the final results. We are quite aware of these results since they have been made public through the pasting of the results outside the stations. What is secret now that ZEC would want to conceal so much that they keep the nation guessing?” said Zenzele Khumalo, a Budiriro resident. – Reuters, CAJ