MDC questions tally

By ANGUS SHAW

Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition is questioning the Electoral Commission's tally of presidential results that give its candidate the lead, but not enough votes to avoid a run-off, an opposition spokesperson said on Friday.

More than a month after the vote, Zimbabweans are awaiting an official announcement of results, which will not be made until a verification process that began on Thursday is complete.

Party officials are being asked to confirm the electoral commission's tally as part of the verification. The opposition's objections make it likely it will be several more days before an announcement.

Electoral and party officials resumed their meetings on Friday morning after adjourning on Thursday afternoon.



The opposition and rights groups have accused President Robert Mugabe of withholding the results to buy time to steal a run-off through intimidation or fraud.

The commission's tally gave opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai just under 48 percent of the vote, and Mugabe about 43 percent, opposition spokesperson George Sibotshiwe said. Tsvangirai's party says its own count gives him 50,3 percent, just enough to win outright.

Sibotshiwe said Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was asking the commission to account for 120 000 votes it said went to Mugabe, but which Sibotshiwe said even Mugabe's party had not claimed.

"We just said to the electoral commission we're not moving forward until we understand where these 120 000 votes came from," Sibotshiwe said, saying that if that block of votes went to Tsvangirai, he would avoid a run-off.

Sibotshiwe expected the verification to take three or four more days, saying: "There's a lot that needs to be looked at."

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said on Friday that the tally of Mugabe's party indicated a run-off would be necessary. Independent observers also have been saying that Tsvangirai won the most votes, but not the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a run-off.

Matonga said the constitution required a second round be held no sooner than 21 days from the announcement of the results, but that the electoral commission could take up to a year if officials believed that was necessary.

Mugabe has pledged to accept the verdict of any run-off vote and called on the opposition to do the same, Senegalese officials said on Thursday.

Senegal's foreign minister flew to Zimbabwe earlier this week to help mediate the country's growing political crisis. He met with Mugabe for two hours on Thursday and urged the quick release of results more than a month after the vote, according to a Senegalese government statement.

The opposition says a government and ruling party campaign of terror and violence since the first round of voting has left the movement in a disarray, with its main leaders staying out of the country for fear of arrest.

Independent rights groups say post-election violence makes it unlikely a run-off could be free and fair.

Mugabe, 84, has been in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980. He has been accused of brutality and increasing autocracy. But the main campaign issue for many here had been the economic collapse of what had once been a regional breadbasket. - Sapa-AP

Source Url: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20080502114636873C430545

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