Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe in the presidential election but faces a run-off vote after failing to win an outright majority, the electoral body said on Friday.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change called the announcement of the long-delayed result ”scandalous daylight robbery”. It says Tsvangirai won more than 50% at the March 29 election and Mugabe’s 28-year rule is over.
Chief elections officer Lovemore Sekeramayi said Tsvangirai won 47,9% and Mugabe took 43,2%.
”Since no candidate has received the majority of the total votes cast … a second election shall be held on a date to be announced by the commission,” Sekeramayi said. By law, a second round should be held within 21 days of the result.
The result was released after a process by the candidates to check the result, but opposition spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said the verification had not been done properly.
”This whole thing is a scandal, scandalous daylight robbery and everyone knows that,” he told Reuters. ”We won this election outright, and yet what we are being given here as the outcome are some fudged figures meant to save Mugabe and Zanu-PF.”
He said the party executive would decide the next move. Initial MDC estimates had given Tsvangirai 50,3% of the vote although independent and ruling Zanu-PF party projections had suggested he was unlikely to win an outright majority.
A month-long delay to results had raised fears of widespread bloodshed in a country suffering economic ruin that has been ruled by Mugabe since independence from Britain in 1980.
The opposition had accused the government of delaying results to rig the outcome.
Run-off doubts
Tsvangirai has raised doubts over whether he would take part in a run-off and has been out of the country since shortly after the vote, trying to keep up international pressure on Mugabe.
But if he refused to take part, then Mugabe would keep his hold on power.
Tsvangirai has suggested he could only contest a second round if it was monitored by United Nations-led foreign observers. The main international observer group during the first round was from Zimbabwe’s neighbours.
The opposition accuses the ruling Zanu-PF party, which lost its parliamentary majority in a parallel vote on March 29, of a campaign of violence and intimidation ahead of a possible second round and says 20 of its members have been killed.
The government denies that and accuses the MDC of political attacks.
On Wednesday, the United States cast doubt on the credibility of the election results and said it was hard to see how a run-off could be fair because of state-orchestrated violence.
”President Mugabe must call off his dogs and cease his security services’ and his supporters’ attacks on those who are simply trying to express their views,” said State Department spokesperson Tom Casey.
Mugabe brands his opponents as stooges of Western powers bent on driving him from power.
Zimbabwe’s economic collapse, for which Mugabe’s critics blame his policies, has sent millions of refugees into neighbouring countries to escape severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages and inflation of 165 000% — the world’s highest
Emergency assistance
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said in a statement on Friday it was providing emergency assistance to more than 1 500 people displaced by political violence in Zimbabwe.
”We are currently providing emergency support to more than 1 500 displaced people in the form of blankets, soap, buckets and tabs for clean water,” Festo Kavishe, Unicef’s representative in Zimbabwe, said in the statement.
”But we urge the authorities and all parties to unite for children; protect them from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation and ensure their continued access to health and education,” Kavishe said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier warned of ”a serious humanitarian crisis” in Zimbabwe. Local and international human rights groups have documented a wave of attacks since elections on March 29.
Pro-government militias have most often been accused of being behind the violence but there have also been reports of attacks by members of the MDC.
”We need to ensure an open and safe space for reaching those in need, now more than ever,” said Kavishe, as the UN agency explained that the violence was hampering the work of non-governmental groups and aid agencies. — Reuters, AFP