Zimbabwe’s opposition claimed a clear lead over President Robert Mugabe and his party as pressure mounted on Monday evening for the swift announcement of full results from presidential and parliamentary polls. Earlier on Monday, the United Kingdom-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting said that Mugabe was to announce victory.
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.
Zimbabwe’s justice minister lost his seat on Monday and first election results showed the opposition level with President Robert Mugabe’s party, but delays to most results fuelled opposition suspicions of vote rigging. Results of the parliamentary election began trickling out on Monday, 36 hours after polls closed.
Robert Mugabe on Monday was desperately trying to cling to power, despite his clear defeat in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, by blocking the electoral commission from releasing official results and threatening to treat an opposition claim of victory as a coup.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change and ruling Zanu-PF were running neck-and-neck, according to the first election results issued by the Electoral Commission on Monday. The commission started announcing the results from Saturday’s election shortly before 7am after a long delay.
Robert Mugabe was desperately trying to cling to power on Sunday night, despite his clear defeat in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, by blocking the electoral commission from releasing official results and threatening to treat an opposition claim of victory as a coup.
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.
Zimbabwe’s opposition claimed victory on Sunday based on early results from an election in which it is trying to unseat President Robert Mugabe after 28 years of power and end an economic collapse. ”It’s a historic moment for all of us. We have won this election, we have won this election,” said Tendai Biti, secretary general of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
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
To Robert Mugabe, Saturday’s presidential election in Zimbabwe is not so much a vote as war. From his campaign slogan — Get Behind the Fist — to speeches invoking the liberation war against white rule, the president of Zimbabwe has defined his campaign to extend his 28-year rule as the final struggle against British imperialism.
A war of words has erupted ahead of election day in Zimbabwe this Saturday, with the opposition saying the government has already rigged the vote. These elections were ”never meant to be an even playing field”, said Nkosana Moyo, coordinator of presidential hopeful Simba Makoni’s campaign, in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
No image available
/ 21 February 2008
In an unusual show of unity, the two secretary generals of the two factions of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have described the dialogue that was meant to resolve the country’s meltdown as ”dead”, painting a dire scenario for Zimbabwe after its upcoming elections.
No image available
/ 23 January 2008
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe of running a dictatorship on Wednesday after he was briefly detained by police and needed court approval to address supporters. He told supporters his detention in the early hours by police who picked him up while he was sleeping was a bad omen for elections due in March.
No image available
/ 23 January 2008
Police took away Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday, his lawyer said. ”The police are saying they want to know what he is planning to do today,” said lawyer Alec Muchadehama.
No image available
/ 22 January 2008
Police released Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai hours after taking him away in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change planned the march to press President Robert Mugabe for a new Constitution.
No image available
/ 21 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) set the stage on Monday for a new showdown with the security forces by vowing to ignore a ban on a mass protest against President Robert Mugabe. MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said there was no reason why a previous agreement to stage the demonstration should be ripped up.
No image available
/ 16 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s main opposition said on Wednesday it planned a protest next week to demonstrate against a crumbling economy and press for a new Constitution it says will guarantee free and fair elections scheduled for March. Opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said earlier this month the party might boycott elections scheduled for March.
Prosecutors in Zimbabwe have withdrawn ”terror” charges against 22 opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists because of insufficient evidence, defence lawyers said on Tuesday. The activists were arrested in March as President Robert Mugabe’s government launched a crackdown on the opposition, which saw MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai severely beaten.