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Suspense mounts in Zimbabwe
27/04/2008 14:33 - (SA)
Harare - The suspense mounted in Zimbabwe on Sunday over the outcome of a presidential election four weeks on from voting day, as international pressure increased on Harare to publish the results.
A recount of the ballots in the March 29 parliamentary and presidential elections has already handed the opposition a historic victory in parliament over President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.
The chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, George Chiweshe, said on Saturday he expected the recount of the presidential vote to be completed by Monday after which results would be issued.
But he did not specify when they would be released.
Political analysts said they believed the results will be published this week but supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said they were sceptical.
The opposition says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won an outright majority against the 84-year-old Mugabe. The country's main election monitoring body said Tsvangirai won in the first round but failed to get more than 50%.
"I think we will get them this week. They have delayed them for too long, and, given the pressure from the international community, there is no doubt they will be announced this week," said Lovemore Madhuku, a political analyst.
But chief opposition spokesperson Nelson Chamisa expressed doubt.
"It is very difficult to believe a person who has failed to produce results for the past four weeks who says that he can deliver within days," Chamisa said.
"We consider it as empty talk which has to be validated by some kind of action and concrete steps that inspire confidence," he added.
Zimbabweans went to the polls a month ago to elect a president, parliamentarians and local government councillors, but results of the presidential vote have not been made public.
The authorities ordered a partial vote recount after allegations made by the ruling Zimbabwean African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party of vote fraud by the opposition.
Good news for Zanu-PF
"It is very likely that they will announce that Mugabe did not get a 50% majority, but will show him ahead of Tsvangirai," Madhuku said.
"So there is no need to delay that kind of result. There won't be any shockers but there will be good news for Zanu-PF."
If no outright winner emerged from the vote, a second round of voting will have to be organised.
The MDC said the recount has been a bid to rig the election result and has refused to take part in any run-off.
"They have been cooking results and the nation is not ready for something they did not vote for, they are ready for the original results," said Chamisa.
The electoral commission was at pains this weekend to explain the delays which it attributed to logistical hitches related to transport and communications in some outlying constituencies.
It also said variance in figures received from various regional counting centres forced it to re-check some 36 000 result sheets received from each of the 9 000 polling stations.
Demands for recounts by political players further added to the delays.
The MDC has accused the authorities of delaying tactics in order to mount a campaign of intimidation against the opposition, saying that 15 of its activists have been killed so far in politically-motivated attacks.
The police have also detained more than 200 opposition activists and raided the offices of the country's main independent election monitoring body, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.
A top US official, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, on Sunday urged African leaders to put pressure on Mugabe to release the results of the presidential vote, insisting the opposition had won.
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Zimbabwe Special Report
