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Zanu-PF predicts MDC win
01/04/2008 12:57 - (SA)
Harare - A projection by Zimbabwe's ruling party shows opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will beat President Robert Mugabe in the country's election but a runoff will be needed, Zanu-PF party sources say.
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 eight percent. 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 runoff, with Tsvangirai taking 49.4% and Mugabe 41.8%. Makoni, a ZANU-PF defector, would get 8.2%.
The opposition was expected to unite behind one candidate if there was a runoff, which would be held three weeks after last Saturday's election.
A senior Western diplomat said 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 opposition alleged a long delay in issuing presidential election results was covering rigging by Mugabe.
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.
- Reuters
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