Zimbabwe opposition claims a landslide win amid speculation that Mugabe may flee
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By JANE FIELDS IT LOOKED like the moment millions of struggling Zimbabweans had dreamed of: the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday claimed it had won Zimbabwe's most crucial poll since independence in 1980.
Tendai Biti, the secretary of MDC, which is led by Morgan Tsvangirai, said: "The people's victory is on course. We have no doubt we have won this election."
The party said early results indicated the MDC had taken 67 per cent of the vote in 35 per cent of polling stations.
However, Zimbabweans were kept on tenterhooks after the state Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) delayed announcing results, fuelling speculation President Robert Mugabe was preparing to flee.
In central Avondale, youths whistled and sang a version of Let it Be, although police had tried to ban MDC supporters from celebrating until official results were published.
Mr Mugabe, who has brought Zimbabwe to its knees in his 28 years in power, appeared to have lost in some of his traditional rural strongholds, according to party officials.
But George Charamba, a presidential spokesman, warned Mr Tsvangirai that premature victory claims would be seen as an attempted coup, adding: "We all know how coups are handled."
The MDC said it was keeping its own tally to prevent the altering of results by the authorities. Early unverified MDC results last night showed the party had won more than 100 parliamentary constituencies, with Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF taking just five. There are 210 constituencies in total.
Meanwhile, independent candidate Simba Makoni appeared to have polled around a third of votes in southern Matabeleland province.
George Chiweshe, the head of the ZEC, had to be rescued by security officers at a Harare hotel after he was mobbed by journalists and opposition supporters shouting: "We want results."
Mr Biti said: "The results are final in most constituencies but they are deliberately taking their time to announce them."
The ZEC chief said it had been a "more complicated election".
Meanwhile, in what sounded suspiciously like a show of defiance, state radio played a popular gospel song, which includes the lines: "All things are possible... right here in Zimbabwe, We're gonna make it, We shall overcome."
At Hatfield Primary School in southern Harare at midday, a riot policeman paused to study the result posted on the school door. He was a member of Mr Mugabe's feared Black Boots group, who have been used to beat and intimidate opposition supporters.
"It's good, eh?" he whispered, nodding to the results: Morgan Tsvangirai: 409, Robert Mugabe: less than 100. "This time, there's going to be change. We've been suffering too much."
However, excitement turned to impatience by afternoon. In previous polls, state radio has started broadcasting results from each constituency just hours after the close of voting.
"I think Morgan is winning," said "George", a caretaker in Avondale. "That's why Mugabe won't announce."
Unconfirmed reports late yesterday said soldiers had been pulled back to barracks.
"Just pray," said three women at a Hatfield polling station.
Zimbabwean forces patrol after poll result delayBy Cris ChinakaReuters
Sunday, March 30, 2008; 7:49 PM
HARARE (Reuters) - Riot police appeared on the streets of Zimbabwe's capital after a long delay to election results fuelled opposition suspicions that President Robert Mugabe may try and cling to power by rigging the vote.
Reuters journalists saw the riot police in Harare late on Sunday and residents in outlying poor townships said they had seen stepped up patrols by security forces.
"We have been told to stay indoors," said a resident in the eastern suburb of Tafara, declining to be named.
Mugabe, 84, faced the biggest challenge of his 28-year-rule in Saturday's election because of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and a two-pronged opposition attack that put him under unprecedented political pressure.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai said it had won an overwhelming victory, but electoral officials said no official results would be released until 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Monday, 35 hours after polls closed.
Results in past votes have begun emerging soon afterwards.
The chairman of Zimbabwe's electoral commission, George Chiweshe, said the delay was caused by the complexity of holding presidential, parliamentary and local polls together for the first time, and the need to verify results meticulously.
All results would be announced on Monday, he told reporters.
"Mugabe has lost the election. Everyone knows no one voted for Mugabe, but they are now trying to cook up a result in his favor, " said MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti.
Zimbabwe is suffering from the world's highest inflation rate of more than 100,000 percent, chronic shortages of food and fuel, and an HIV/AIDS epidemic that has contributed to a steep decline in life expectancy.
Two South African members of a regional observer mission said the delay in announcing the election results "underscores the fear that vote-rigging is taking place."
They refused to sign a positive preliminary report on the poll by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and said there was evidence of "widespread and convincing" MDC wins.
Zimbabwean forces patrol after poll result delay
"COUP ATTEMPT"
Mugabe's government warned the opposition it would regard victory claims as a coup attempt. The president, in power since independence from Britain, accuses the West of sabotaging Zimbabwe's economy and rejects vote-rigging allegations.
SADC mission chairman Jose Marcos Barrica of Angola told reporters through an interpreter the election "has been a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people."
Mugabe is being challenged by veteran rival Tsvangirai and former finance minister and ruling ZANU-PF party official Simba Makoni. Both accuse the former guerrilla leader of wrecking a once prosperous economy and reducing the population to misery.
Although the odds seem stacked against Mugabe, analysts believe his iron grip on the country and backing from the armed forces will enable him to declare victory.
Barrica expressed concern about the voters roll, opposition access to the media and statements by the heads of security forces who had said they would not accept an opposition victory.
But he said: "We saw that the basic conditions for a free and fair election were there."
The dissenting SADC mission members, who belong to South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance, said in a statement: "It is impossible for this deeply flawed electoral process to be viewed as a credible expression of the will of the people."
The SADC, which critics say has been too soft on Mugabe, has unsuccessfully tried to mediate an end to Zimbabwe's crisis, which has turned a quarter of the population into refugees.
Zimbabwe's security forces, which have thrown their weight firmly behind Mugabe, said before the election they would not allow a victory declaration before counting was complete.
Government spokesman George Charamba warned the opposition against such claims. "It is called a coup d'etat and we all know how coups are handled," he told the state-owned Sunday Mail.
Residents in the eastern opposition stronghold of Manicaland said riot police stopped a victory demonstration by about 200 MDC supporters on Sunday. There was no violence, they said.
The United States said it was worried by the conduct of the election and the absence of most international observers.
"The Mugabe regime is a disgrace to the people of Zimbabwe and a disgrace to southern Africa and to the continent of Africa as a whole," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters during a visit to Jerusalem.
(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Stella Mapenzauswa, Nelson Banya, Muchena Zigomo and Arshad Mohammed in Jerusalem)
(Writing by Barry Moody)
Tension in Zimbabwe as opposition claims win
By Alec Russell, Southern Africa Correspondent
Published: March 29 2008 19:42 | Last updated: March 30 2008 18:16
Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe and the ruling Zanu-PF party were Sunday night locked in a stand-off with the country's main opposition after the Movement for Democratic Change claimed victory in the weekend's bitterly contested presidential and parliamentary elections.
It is unknown how Mr Mugabe and his allies will react to what looks like a resounding defeat. It was announced at midnight Sunday night that the results would start to be published at 6am Monday.
The government and election authorities condemned the opposition for declaring victory before the official count was released.
Diplomats and election observers expressed mounting concern that Zanu-PF was trying to rig the election as the state-appointed Zimbabwe Election Commission had not released any results more than 24 hours after the polls closed. But Judge George Chiweshe, ZEC chairman, told state television that all results would be released by the end of Monday. "It's an involving and laborious process," he said.
In an implicit warning to the MDC, he added: "The commission would like to reiterate that it and it alone is the sole legitimate source of all results."
Riot police were reported to be patrolling the streets of Zimbabwe's capital Sunday night and residents were told to stay indoors.
Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the main wing of the MDC, earlier said returns from just over a third of polling stations gave party leader Morgan Tsvangirai 67 per cent of the vote.
"We've won this election," Mr Tsvangirai told a pre-dawn press conference in Harare. "In our view the trend is irreversible."
But he said he was concerned that Zanu-PF officials might try to skew the results in their favour - as they are widely accused of having done in the last presidential poll in 2002. MDC insiders said Sunday night that they had opened talks with elements in the security forces in an attempt to prevent a showdown.
Mark Malloch Brown, minister for Africa, said: "It's quite clear President Mugabe has lost despite massive pre-election day cheatingt hat had been organised and structured. If that is the case we will work vigorously with the international community to make sure the people's will prevails."
Independent observers told the FT their tally of the official results posted outside ballot stations gave Mr Tsvangirai a 55 per cent majority, with the 84-year-old president on 36 per cent.
The results were from two-thirds of the polling stations, including almost 90 per cent from urban areas, traditional opposition strongholds, and 42 per cent from rural areas, the base of Zanu's PF's support, the observers said.
Saturday's elections have been the most bitterly contested in the 28 years since Zimbabwe won independence. Mr Mugabe's challengers, Mr Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni, a former finance minister, sought to capitalise on the implosion of the economy and collapse of public services.
With inflation running between 100,000 and 400,000 per cent there is a palpable sense of desperation across the country. But in a reflection of the extreme delicacy of the situation, on the eve of the vote, the chiefs of the security forces said they would not take orders from Mr Mugabe's challengers if they won the poll.
Noel Kututwa, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an independent monitoring group, called on ZEC to issue the votes immediately. "The delay is fuelling speculation that there is something going on," he said.
As he voted, Mr Mugabe said he was interested only in a free and fair election. "We do not rig elections. We have that sense of honesty. I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have cheated in elections," he said.
The winner needs more than 50 per cent to avoid a run-off.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2008-03-30T221954Z_01_L28808838_RTRUKOC_0_US-ZIMBABWE-ELECTION.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-2
Here is the Reuters report with a tool bar on the left for other info.
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