Mugabe wins huge majority

[Savonarola]

In the least surprising news of the week, the man who gave brutal dictators dignity, the man who allowed them to stand up and say "I am somebody" has been returned to power:

Zimbabwe election: Mugabe's Zanu-PF 'wins majority'

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party has won a huge majority in parliament in this week's elections, officials say.

With most seats declared, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said Zanu-PF had won 137 seats in the 210-seat chamber, just short of two-thirds.

Results in the presidential race have yet to be announced.

Mr Mugabe's main rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has already dismissed the election as "a sham".

Mr Tsvangirai, 61, who heads the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and is running for president against Mr Mugabe, said the vote was "null and void".


A local monitoring group has also said that the poll was "seriously compromised".

However, the two main observer groups have broadly endorsed the election, saying it was free and peaceful.

Earlier reports from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said Zanu-PF had won 142 seats but this was later corrected following some recounts.

The AFP news agency reports that 186 seats have been declared with 24 results still to come.

If Zanu-PF clinches a two-thirds majority it will be able to change Zimbabwe's constitution.

Uneasy coalition

African Union (AU) mission head Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed the complaints of fraud, saying the election was fair and free "from the campaigning point of view".

He acknowledged incidents "that could have been avoided and even tended to have breached the law" but added: "All in all, up to the close of the polls, we do not believe that these incidences (incidents) will amount to the result not representing the will of the people."

The former Nigerian president added: "I have never seen an election that is perfect. The process continues and we have to limit our comments."

Monitors from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) described the elections as "free and peaceful" but said it was too early to call them fair.

"In democracy we not only vote, not only campaign, but accept the hard facts, particularly the outcome," said Sadc mission head Bernard Membe.

The AU assessment sharply contrasted to that of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) - the largest group of domestic monitors with some 7,000 people on the ground.

It said on Thursday that the elections were "seriously compromised", with as many as one million people unable to cast their ballots.


The ZESN said potential voters were much more likely to be turned away from polling stations in urban areas, where support for Mr Tsvangirai is strong, than in President Mugabe's rural strongholds.

The group also alleged significant irregularities before the poll. It said that 99.7% of rural voters were registered on the electoral roll in June compared with only 67.9% of urban voters.

Zanu-PF and the MDC have formed an uneasy coalition government since 2009. That deal ended deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.

Mr Mugabe, 89, is running for a seventh term.

His Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday that Zanu-PF was "headed for an unprecedented landslide".

"If anyone is dissatisfied, the courts are there. I invite Tsvangirai to go to court if he has any grounds to justify what he has been saying,'' he told journalists.

Under Zimbabwean law, seven days are set aside for legal challenges with another two days for rulings to be made. After that, the swearing-in of a new government takes place.

The BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg says some strong legal challenges are likely, with perhaps a few results overturned.

[garbon]

I was* surprised that Tsvangirai was still alive. I had thought back when he accepted a position as prime minister he was going to get offed - like how his supporters had their limbs taken off with machetes.

*was as I'd actually looked up about this recently.

[Admiral Yi]

The Economist thought the presence of AU and SADC observers would mean a relatively clean election.

[Sheilbh]

The Economist thought the presence of AU and SADC observers would mean a relatively clean election.

I got the impression that the opposition were relatively optimistic too.

[MadImmortalMan]

The Economist thought the presence of AU and SADC observers would mean a relatively clean election.

I got the impression that the opposition were relatively optimistic too.

They were running against Mugabe. Being optimistic you'd win is the non-idiotic position in that situation. 

[The Minsky Moment]

Tsvangarai did pretty well in the some the breakdowns.
He had a nice lead among voters with beating hearts and also with voters who only have one name.

[Admiral Yi]

So the consensus is the AU and SADC were in the bag?

[The Minsky Moment]

Dont really know but I do recall seeing a story about the abnormally high number of people aged 100 or over on the voter rolls.

[mongers]

Dont really know but I do recall seeing a story about the abnormally high number of people aged 100 or over on the voter rolls.

No that is merely the upshot from Mugabe's previous extensive 'mean and lean' fitness programme for the vulnerable and elderly.