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MUGABE -- His party lagging behind opposition |
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HARARE - Zimbabwe’s main opposition has won the country's parliamentary election with 99 seats against the ruling ZANU PF's 97 seats, according to the latest results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
A smaller opposition faction has picked up 10 seats and an independent candidate has won a seat to bring the total number of seats in opposition hands to 110.
Zimbabwe’s House of Assembly has 210 seats, all elective. 206 seats were up for grabs after ZANU PF won one seat uncontested and elections for three other seats had to be postponed following the death of opposition candidates.
The elections last Saturday took place amid an acute recession blamed on state mismanagement and seen in the world’s highest inflation of more than 100 000 percent, spiraling poverty, shortages of food and every basic commodity.
The MDC earlier on Wednesday declared victory against Mugabe’s government in last Saturday’s elections, saying perusal of results posted outside individual polling stations countrywide showed Tsvangirai winning 50.3 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a second round run-off against Mugabe.
Mugabe had won 43.8 percent of the vote while former finance minister Simba Makoni took seven percent, according to figures supplied by the MDC.
“President Morgan Tsvangirai has won this election without the need to go for a re-run,” MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said, ignoring warnings by the government that such a declaration would be considered a coup.
Biti said while Tsvangirai had won, the MDC was however ready to participate in a second round run-off against Mugabe to “finish off the old man.”
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has only released partial results of the parliamentary poll at a trickle and had indicated it would take longer before full results of all three polls were known.
Biti said out of the 2 382 243 votes cast on 29 March, Tsvangirai polled 1 171 079, Mugabe 1 043 349 and Makoni 167 815. He said figures collated by the MDC showed the party winning 99 seats overall against ZANU PF’s 96 seats.
A small faction of the MDC that is led by Arthur Mutambara will take 11 seats while and independent candidate Jonathan Moyo would retain his seat in parliament.
“What it means is that the opposition is the majority in the new parliament. ZANU PF has lost this election,” said Biti.
Political analysts say Tsvangirai could easily beat Mugabe in a run-off between the two but warn that such a second round of voting that the three-week hiatus before a new vote would spark serious violence between security forces and militia loyal to the Zimbabwean leader on one side and MDC supporters on the other. -- ZimOnline
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