UN - Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe on course for run-off vote

Wednesday 30 April 2008

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47 percent of Zimbabwe's March 29 election, to Robert Mugabe's 43 percent, government officials said. Falling short of a majority, the vote is set to head into a second round. Alex Duval Smith reports.

HARARE, April 30 (Reuters) - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, winning 47 percent of the vote against the president’s 43 percent, senior government sources said on Wednesday.

One source, declining to be named like the others, told Reuters a run-off would be needed because Tsvangirai did not win enough votes for an outright victory.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said he won the March 29 vote outright and accuses Mugabe—in power for 28 years—of delaying results to rig victory.

The standoff over the election has raised fears of widespread bloodshed.

Tsvangirai has said there is no need for a second round because he won outright but has also suggested he could take part if there were international observers led by the U.N.

If Tsvangirai refused to take part in a run-off, Mugabe would be declared the winner, according to election rules.

A top official in Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party said: “Those figures are in line with the official figures and the MDC knows that the official tally is more or less around that but they have been inflating their numbers to claim a false victory.”

There was no immediate comment on the leaked result from the Electoral Commission, which has invited candidates to start verifying the count from Thursday. Opposition officials were not immediately available for comment.

ECONOMIC WOES

Zimbabweans had hoped the election would ease economic turmoil. Instead, severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages are worsening and there are no signs an inflation rate of 165,000 percent—the world’s highest—will decrease.

The MDC and human rights groups allege ZANU-PF has embarked on a violent campaign to scare Zimbabweans into voting for Mugabe in a run-off, accusations the government denies.

Earlier, Mugabe’s government dismissed the United Nations’ first session on Zimbabwe’s election crisis as “sinister, racist and colonial” and said it would have no impact on the country.

At the U.N. Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Western powers pressed for a U.N. mission or envoy to visit Zimbabwe.

“For us, this (U.N. session) is a sign of desperation by the British and their MDC puppets,” Zimbabwe’s Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told Reuters.

European countries, Latin American U.N. members and the United States supported sending an envoy, diplomats said, but South Africa, which currently holds the council presidency, said such a move was not a matter for the council.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has come under attack at home and abroad for his softly softly approach to Zimbabwe.

Former colonial ruler Britain has been at the forefront of international pressure on Mugabe. It is seeking an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, an investigation into post-election violence, and has called for the election results to be issued immediately.