President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party were to announce victory on Monday in the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections, according to unofficial results leaked from the Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission command centres.
Zimbabwe’s opposition was level with President Robert Mugabe’s party and two of his ministers lost their seats on Monday as election results trickled out, but counting delays fuelled suspicions of rigging. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said unofficial tallies showed Morgan Tsvangirai had 60% of the presidential vote.
Zimbabweans woke up on Monday morning still not knowing if a new future had dawned on the country plagued by political and economic strife. On Sunday night, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission headquarters — called the national command centre — was deserted while the commission insisted it was verifying votes.
The opposition claimed victory on Sunday in Zimbabwe’s election as concerns mounted over a delay to the results of a contest that could see President Robert Mugabe turfed out of office. Meanwhile, the election was a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people, observers from the Southern African Development Community said.
Zimbabwe’s opposition said on Sunday it had won the most crucial election since independence, but President Robert Mugabe’s government warned that premature victory claims would be seen as an attempted coup. Tendai Biti, secretary general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said that early results showed it was victorious.
If this was the day that the big change would take place, Harare did not look the part. If it weren’t for the posters and the tent structures for polling stations on open land, one would be forgiven for thinking this was just another sleepy public holiday in the capital of Zimbabwe.
African observers charged on Saturday that they had discovered fraudulent voters rolls in the Zimbabwe election, listing more than 8Â 000 apparently non-existent people. Marwick Khumalo, head of the Pan African Parliament, said that in one Harare constituency, ”8Â 450 [voters] have been registered under block 081083 … which is a deserted land with a few scattered wooden sheds”.
Polls began closing in Zimbabwe on Saturday after voters cast ballots for Parliament and president with incumbent Robert Mugabe battling to extend his near three-decades rule. Reporters at polling stations said officers began closing doors at 7pm after 12 hours of voting but allowed people who were still queueing to cast their ballots
Eager to vote, Zimbabweans began lining up before dawn on Saturday for elections that present President Robert Mugabe with the toughest political challenge of his 28 years in power. The house of a ruling Zanu-PF parliamentary candidate in Bulawayo was reportedly bombed earlier in the day, shattering its windows.
Zimbabweans began voting on Saturday in the most crucial election since independence from Britain in 1980, with veteran President Robert Mugabe facing the biggest challenge of his 28-year-rule. Some voters slept at the polling stations while others began queuing before dawn. Voting began just after 7am and was scheduled to end 12 hours later.
Zimbabwe’s security forces were placed on full alert on Friday to head off possible violence at this weekend’s elections as President Robert Mugabe’s opponents feared the outcome had already been fixed. With state media predicting a Mugabe win, human rights groups said there was no way the electoral process could be said to reflect the will of the people.
The economy is in ruins, the population live in misery and he faces the most formidable challenge of his 28-year rule, yet Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe could still cling to power in Saturday’s elections. Critics say Mugabe has enough control of the electoral machinery to retain power, with the decisive backing of police and army.
Restoring inflation-ravaged Zimbabwe to its previous status as a model of economic prosperity could take more than a decade, presidential challenger Simba Makoni said ahead of this weekend’s elections. In an interview late on Wednesday, he said he wanted to banish the climate of fear that he says now pervades the nation.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader pledged on Wednesday to revamp the country’s crumbling economy by introducing a new currency within six months if he wrests the presidency from Robert Mugabe in weekend elections. ”The economy is dead,” Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told thousands of supporters in Murewa.
Zimbabwe police have pressed fraud charges related to a hotel booking against a Johannesburg-based pilot arrested while flying Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai to election rallies, the party said on Wednesday. Zimbabwe’s police were not able to confirm the arrest.
Zimbabwe’s justice minister has dismissed as ”utter rubbish” claims by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that the political playing field is uneven ahead of national polls. Zimbabweans are preparing to elect a new president, Parliament and local councillors on March 29, but the MDC has expressed fears of vote rigging.
South Africa has steadfastly refused to join in the chorus of criticism of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe despite paying an ever higher price for the crisis across its northern border. As Zimbabwe goes to the polls this weekend, analysts believe South African President Thabo Mbeki may feel little enthusiasm towards Mugabe but will never embarrass his fellow leader.
President Robert Mugabe says an opposition win in Saturday’s tightly contested polls would be ”the greatest curse” for Zimbabwe. Mugabe, who is battling for his political survival, called on opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters to ”come home” to his ruling Zanu-PF, the government-mouthpiece Herald reported on Tuesday.
Zimbabweans go to the polls on Saturday hoping for an end to a chronic economic crisis that has condemned millions to grinding poverty and prompted the exodus of up to a third of the population. The joint presidential, legislative and local council polls come at a time when the country’s inflation rate has breached the 100Â 000% mark.
President Robert Mugabe on Sunday vowed that his main political rival would never rule Zimbabwe, as the opposition raised concerns that the governing party would rig the March 29 ballot. Meanwhile, opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai drew the biggest crowd so far in the election campaign.
President Robert Mugabe made a defiant campaign speech on Saturday a week ahead of perhaps his toughest election battle, saying Zimbabwe’s main opposition party will never rule during his lifetime. Mugabe also threatened to expel companies from former colonial ruler Britain after the March 29 polls.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe warned the opposition on Friday against Kenyan-style violence if they lose next week’s election, saying security forces stood ready to crush such protests. The 84-year-old leader faces a stiff challenge from former ally Simba Makoni and long time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
President Robert Mugabe is urging Zimbabweans to ”vote for the fist”. His campaign posters — portraits of Mugabe wearing an olive green military-type shirt and holding a clenched fist aloft — reflect his hard-line politics, and remind voters of the crack troops who have helped keep him in power for 28 years.
President Robert Mugabe’s supporters have used violence to intimidate opponents in the run-up to next week’s Zimbabwe election, undermining chances of a fair poll, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. Mugabe faces the strongest challenge to his 28-year rule in presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections on March 29.
Millions who fled Zimbabwe amid its economic collapse blame President Robert Mugabe, but their inability to vote in elections this month may boost his chances to stay in power. Opposition figures, who pose Mugabe’s biggest electoral challenge yet, have urged them to return to be entitled to vote in the March 29 polls, but few are likely to.
Zimbabwe’s election body has no legal powers to stop security chiefs from threatening to reject an opposition victory in this month’s poll, a senior official said on Tuesday. Analysts say President Robert Mugabe faces the strongest challenge to his 28-year rule in presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections on March 29.
With her hand on her cheek, the 68-year-old woman gazes patiently at the cars racing past her, hoping someone will stop and buy the firewood at her feet so that she can feed her three grandchildren. MaNcube, as she is called in her village in Shangani, a dry arid land 360km west of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, has one plea.
A former finance minister challenging Robert Mugabe for the presidency denied on Sunday he was a Western puppet and said such accusations were to divert attention from Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. Simba Makoni is running as an independent candidate after being expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Zimbabwe’s main labour union on Sunday called on millions of Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa to go home to vote in the country’s March 29 elections, South Africa’s Talk Radio 702 reported. Zimbabweans will vote in presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections in two weeks.
State media in Zimbabwe on Friday accused prominent South Africa-based Mail & Guardian publisher Trevor Ncube of donating R300Â 000 to President Robert Mugabe’s rival Simba Makoni two weeks ahead of scheduled parliamentary polls.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has awarded large pay hikes to civil servants, including teachers, ahead of March 29 polls, local news reports said on Wednesday. Addressing a rally on Tuesday at a school in Inyathi, in the country’s Matabeleland North province, Mugabe said he had signed the new salary schedule earlier in the week.
Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission has put too few polling stations in the cities, where the opposition has strongest support, an independent election monitoring group said on Tuesday. The group said Harare had 379 polling stations for about 760 000 registered voters — or 22 seconds for each vote if there was maximum turnout.