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2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Slight
lead for opposition in Zimbabwe parliamentary elections
VOA News
March 31, 2008
http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-31-voa54.cfm
Zimbabwe's main opposition
party - the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - is claiming victory
in Saturday's general elections, but the country's electoral commission
said late Monday the opposition has only a slight lead.
With 89 of the 210 parliamentary
seats declared so far, the ruling ZANU-PF party has won 43, while
the DMC and its breakaway faction has taken 46 seats.
No results from the presidential
election are available, more than two days after the end of voting,
fueling fears of vote-rigging.
The United States expressed
concern over election results delay and urged the election commission
to publish them as quickly as possible.
U.S. State Department
spokesman, Tom Casey said Monday the electoral commission should
put aside partisan sympathies and ensure an honest and accurate
vote count.
Also Monday, seven European
foreign ministers, from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain and Great Britain, expressed concern over the situation
following elections in Zimbabwe and urged a swift announcement of
all official election results, especially the results of the presidential
election.
The election commission
chairman, George Chiweshe blames the delay on the complexity of
the vote - for president, for members of parliament and for local
officials - and the need to verify results.
Mr. Mugabe has ruled
Zimbabwe since it gained independence in 1980. He was opposed in
the election by Mr. Tsvangirai and independent candidate Simba Makoni,
a former Mugabe ally who broke with the ruling party.
If no presidential candidate
wins a majority, the two top contenders will compete in a runoff.
Some information for
this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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