But delays to most results fuelled opposition suspicions of rigging.
Harare,
March 31 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's justice minister lost his seat on Monday and
first election results showed the opposition level with President Robert
Mugabe's party, but delays to most results fuelled opposition suspicions of
rigging.
Results
of the parliamentary election began trickling out on Monday, 36 hours after
polls closed, but no official details were available on the presidential vote,
in which Mugabe faces his most formidable political challenge of 28 years in
power.
Mugabe,
84, faces unprecedented pressure because of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and a
two-pronged attack by veteran rival Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU-PF defector
Simba Makoni.
Latest
results showed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's
ZANU-PF running neck-and-neck, with 12 seats each from a total parliament of
210 constituencies, according to figures issued by the electoral commission.
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, a senior member of Mugabe's government, lost his
seat in the opposition eastern stronghold of Manicaland.
Riot
police appeared on the streets of the capital overnight and the state-run
Herald newspaper accused the MDC of "preparing its supporters to engage in
violence by pre-empting results, claiming they had won".
-->
On
Sunday the government said any early victory claim would be an attempted coup.
Mugabe's
rivals accuse the former guerrilla leader of wrecking a once prosperous economy
and reducing the population to misery.
Although
the odds seem stacked against Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980,
analysts believe his iron grip on the country and solid backing from the armed
forces could enable him to declare victory.
Mugabe
blames Zimbabwe's collapse on former colonial power Britain and says Western
sanctions have sabotaged the economy.
-->
He
rejects vote-rigging allegations.
Zimbabwe
is suffering the world's highest inflation 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.
COMPLEXITY
Electoral
Commission chairman George Chiweshe said the delay in issuing results was due
to the complexity of holding presidential, parliamentary and local polls
together for the first time, and to the need to verify results meticulously.
-->
But
the opposition said the delay was a plot to keep Mugabe in power.
"Mugabe
has lost the election. Everyone knows no one voted for Mugabe, but they are now
trying to cook up a result in his favour," MDC Secretary-General Tendai
Biti said on Sunday.
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.
-->
SADC
mission chairman Jose Marcos Barrica of Angola told reporters through an
interpreter the election had been a "peaceful and credible expression of
the will of the people".
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. (Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Cris
Chinaka, Nelson Banya and Muchena Zigomo; Editing by Barry Moody and Matthew
Tostevin)
HARARE, March 31 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe's justice minister lost his seat on Monday and first election results
showed the opposition level with President Robert Mugabe's party, but delays to
most results fuelled opposition suspicions of rigging.
Results
of the parliamentary election began trickling out on Monday, 36 hours after
polls closed, but no official details were available on the presidential vote,
in which Mugabe faces his most formidable political challenge of 28 years in
power.
Mugabe,
84, faces unprecedented pressure because of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and a
two-pronged attack by veteran rival Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU-PF defector Simba
Makoni.
Latest
results showed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's
ZANU-PF running neck-and-neck, with 12 seats each from a total parliament of
210 constituencies, according to figures issued by the electoral commission.
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, a senior member of Mugabe's government, lost his
seat in the opposition eastern stronghold of Manicaland.
Riot
police appeared on the streets of the capital overnight and the state-run
Herald newspaper accused the MDC of "preparing its supporters to engage in
violence by pre-empting results, claiming they had won".
On
Sunday the government said any early victory claim would be an attempted coup.
Mugabe's
rivals accuse the former guerrilla leader of wrecking a once prosperous economy
and reducing the population to misery.
Although
the odds seem stacked against Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980,
analysts believe his iron grip on the country and solid backing from the armed
forces could enable him to declare victory.
Mugabe
blames Zimbabwe's collapse on former colonial power Britain and says Western
sanctions have sabotaged the economy.
He
rejects vote-rigging allegations.
Zimbabwe
is suffering the world's highest inflation 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.
COMPLEXITY
Electoral
Commission chairman George Chiweshe said the delay in issuing results was due
to the complexity of holding presidential, parliamentary and local polls
together for the first time, and to the need to verify results meticulously.
But
the opposition said the delay was a plot to keep Mugabe in power.
"Mugabe
has lost the election. Everyone knows no one voted for Mugabe, but they are now
trying to cook up a result in his favour," MDC Secretary-General Tendai
Biti said on Sunday.
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.
SADC
mission chairman Jose Marcos Barrica of Angola told reporters through an
interpreter the election had been a "peaceful and credible expression of
the will of the people".
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. (Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Cris
Chinaka, Nelson Banya and Muchena Zigomo; Editing by Barry Moody and Matthew
Tostevin)