Zimbabwe Tense as Election Results Slowly Roll In

Posted on Mar 31, 2008

AP photo / Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

President Robert Mugabe casts his vote on Saturday in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Results from Saturday’s watershed elections in Zimbabwe are still being tallied and analyzed, and while the country anxiously awaits the outcome, some are wondering whether the delay is due to careful counting methods or more troubling potential causes. Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe is losing his grip on power or ready to claim victory—depending on which of Monday’s conflicting reports you read.

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BBC:

Presidential, House of Assembly, Senate and local elections were all held on Saturday, and election officials say that this is why results have been slow to come.

“It’s an absolute necessity that all results be meticulously analysed at this stage,” George Chiweshe, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, said earlier.

But Noel Kututwa, the head of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said: “The delay in announcing these results is fuelling speculation that there could be something going on.”

Poll monitors from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said the elections had been “peaceful and credible”.

But two SADC members from South Africa refused to sign a generally positive preliminary report of the mission, with one of them calling the polls “deeply flawed”.

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