Africa | America | Asia | Australasia | Europe | India | Middle East | UK | US

MDC alarmed as Mugabe's party takes votes in Zimbabwe - Summary

Posted : Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:02:01 GMT
By : DPA
Category : Africa (World)
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
Africa World News | Home
Johannesburg/Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was alarmed Monday as results trickling in from Saturday's elections showed President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the MDC almost neck to neck. The country held combined presidential, parliamentary and local elections on Saturday.

With 25 of 210 seats of the parliamentary assembly counted, MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, had taken 13 seats to Zanu-PF's 12, the state-controlled Zimbabwe Election Commission announced.

The close race suggested by the official results contrasted with the MDC's own unofficial vote count, which showed the party taking 96 out of 128 constituencies so far.

"I would not be surprised if there was not nocturnal activity taking place and suddenly there are subtractions and additions," MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told a press conference in Harare.

The results of the vote, in which authoritarian ruler Mugabe,84, faces an unprecedented challenge to his 28-year hold on power, were being issued at a snail's pace fuelling speculation in MDC ranks of attempts to "cook" the result in Mugabe's favour.

The MDC agreed, however, agreed with ZEC on the distribution of the first six seats, in which Zanu-PF and the MDC took three each.

Biti criticized an observer team from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) which gave the elections a qualified thumbs-up, describing them as "peaceful" and "credible" before the count was over. The observers expressed concern over a number of irregularities, including the presence of police in polling stations.

The effect of the SADC report had been "to sanitize what is not a free and fair election," Biti said.

Fearing vote rigging the MDC rushed to unilaterally claim victory shortly after the close of the polls in the early hours of Sunday based on unofficial and partial results.

"We have won this election," Biti declared. The secretary general has been leading the party's response to the polls after Tsvangirai apparently went into hiding.

The delay in the release of the results has caused widespread consternation.

"It's too slow. We are very concerned with the speed," Noel Kututwa of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) told dpa.

"There's not doubt there's some kind of effort underway to modify the result," Eddie Cross, an MDC MP who retained his seat in the city of Bulawayo, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Unconfirmed results posted on polling station doors had shown the MDC and Tsvangirai sweeping Harare and showing strongly in some rural areas previously considered ruling party strongholds. The party also polled well in the second largest city Bulawayo.

Ex-Finance Minister Simba Makoni, whose surprise decision to stand against his former party leader Mugabe, appeared to be running a distant third.

In remarks carried in the state-owned paper Sunday Mail, government spokesman George Charamba called the MDC's unilateral victory claim tantamount to a coup d'etat.

"We all know how coups are handled," he added.

The streets of Harare and Bulawayo remained calm on Monday. Riot police were seen on the streets of Harare and a

Copyright DPA

Share/Save/Bookmark

Article : MDC alarmed as Mugabe's party takes votes in Zimbabwe - Summary
Print this article
Email this article

Stay Updated
News gadget on your Google homepage
Subscribe to a news feed in Google Reader


Related News

UN: Closer Congo-Rwanda ties could end Africa's Great Lakes war
New York - The recent warming up in ties between the leaders of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo could alter the situation in the war-prone Great Lakes region in Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said Monday. Congo's Presiden...

Johannesburg wall comes tumbling down on 20th anniversary of Berlin
Johannesburg - A section of the wall surrounding the German cultural institute in Johannesburg came tumbling down on Monday as Germany used the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall to try to break down barriers in South Africa. Germany's a...

Somali pirates attack tanker 1,000 nautical miles from Mogadishu
Nairobi/Mogadishu - Somali pirates on Monday attacked a 330- metre-long oil tanker some 400 nautical miles north-east of the Seychelles but were unable to capture the ship, a spokesperson for the European Union's anti-piracy mission Atalanta said. Th...

Lawyer: Bennett 'terrorism' evidence obtained under torture - Summary
Harare - On the first day of his terrorism trial Monday, Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett's lawyers accused the state of basing its case against him on a confession that was allegedly obtained under torture. Bennett, 52, a senior member of Prime Min...

Zimbabwe's Bennett in court for start of terrorism trial
Harare - Popular Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett appeared in the High Court in Harare on Monday for the scheduled start of his terrorism trial. Bennett, 52, is charged with conspiring to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, in a case his Movement for...

Indicted Sudanese president cancels visit to Turkey
Istanbul - Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, has cancelled a scheduled visit to Turkey, Turkish media reported Sunday. Al-Bashir had intended to attend an economic s...

Madagascar rivals sign power-sharing deal
Nairobi/Addis Ababa - Madagascar's squabbling leaders on Saturday signed an agreement to form a power-sharing government after months of wrangling. Current President Andry Rajoelina and former president Marc Ravalomanana were among four leaders meeti...

Have your Say
Name
Email
Subject
Your Comment

Enter Verification code
 
  

 

 

More Africa (World) News click here
Follow The Earth Times
Subscribe to RSS Follow Earth Times on TwitterNews by email
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 



 
Subscribe to free Earthtimes
News Alerts by Email Click here
For RSS Feeds Click here
or Create your own RSS

Add to Google Toolbar
Breaking News
Press Releases

 


The Earth Times
News Category

© 2009 www.earthtimes.org, The Earth Times, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Earth Times accept no responsibility or liability either directly or indirectly for views or opinions expressed in articles or comments.