Posted on 04/01/2005 10:06:44 AM PST by 1066AD
Mugabe's party sweeps to victory President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has swept to victory in Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections. So far the party has taken 40 seats, official results show - enough to guarantee Mr Mugabe's party will control the legislature.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said "disgusting, massive fraud" had been committed in Thursday's polls.
President Mugabe, who has been in power for 25 years, has dismissed the complaints as nonsense.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has won 32 seats so far, mostly in urban areas, where it is strongest.
A total of 120 seats are being contested, with another 30 MPs appointed by the president.
'Ghost voters'
The UK, the US and Germany have all condemned the election as "flawed".
PARTIAL RESULTS MDC: 32 seats Zanu-PF: 40 seats Yet to be declared: 48 seats Elected seats: 120 seats Seats appointed by the president: 30 Surprise winner Independent Jonathan Moyo, ex-information minister Surprise loser Zanu-PF Emmerson Mnangagwa, parliament speaker
Average turnout was below 50%, chief elections officer Lovemore Sekeramai said. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which had some 6,000 observers in the 8,000 polling stations, says that some 10% of would-be voters were turned away, either because their names were not on the electoral roll, they did not have the right identity papers, or they were in the wrong constituency.
One man told the BBC News website that his name had been taken off the register since the last election and yet the name of his aunt was still there, although she had died six years ago.
Human rights groups say that hundreds of thousands of "ghost voters" appear on the electoral roll of some 5.8m. They fear these entries could be used to record fraudulent votes.
'Shock'
"We are deeply disturbed by the fraudulent activities we have unearthed," Mr Tsvangirai said.
"We believe the people of Zimbabwe must defend their votes, their right to a free and a fair election - this is what has been denied," he said.
The BBC's Themba Nkosi says people are shocked by the victory of Jonathan Moyo, who was recently sacked as information minister. Mr Moyo - the architect of Zimbabwe's tough media laws, who ran as an independent - took the Tsholotsho constituency from the MDC.
Parliament speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, once tipped to succeed Mr Mugabe, lost in the central Kwekwe constituency.
Election Support Network head Reginald Matchaba-Hove told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that Thursday's voting process had been "smooth".
But he said the atmosphere had changed in the past few weeks, when foreign observers started arriving, because previously, the opposition had little access to state media and were not free to campaign.
On Thursday, police arrested two UK journalists working for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper on charges of reporting on the country's election without state accreditation, police said.
President Mugabe wants nothing less than a two-thirds majority in parliament, as this would allow Zanu-PF to change the constitution.
This could enable him to install a successor without immediately calling elections, as presently required.
President Mugabe, 81, has led his party's campaign, although he has said he will not seek re-election in the 2008 presidential election.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4399501.stm
Published: 2005/04/01 17:20:42 GMT
has jimmy carter blessed the election yet?
Mugabe understands this and our own Demonrats understand this.
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