Zimbabwe's Ruling Party Loses Parliament - Its Official!!

[AriseSouthAfrica]

Zimbabwe's Ruling Party Loses Parliament

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaGkiD_oeuNCWUEr7YyXikc7dKZQD8VPPPO81

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The latest official election results show Zimbabwe's ruling party has lost its control of parliament.

The results show the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has won 105 seats in the House of Assembly so far, while the ruling party has won 93 seats.

Earlier Wednesday, the opposition claimed outright victory in the presidential election, but the ruling ZANU-PF party rejected that claim.

It said it would await the full results from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which has not yet published the outcome of Saturday's presidential race.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The main opposition party claimed outright victory Wednesday for its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying he had won 50.3 percent of the vote compared to 43.8 percent for President Robert Mugabe.

The ruling ZANU-PF party rejected the opposition's claims, saying that it would await the full results from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which has not yet published the outcome of Saturday's presidential poll.

The state Herald newspaper, meanwhile, predicted a runoff in the first official admission that Zimbabwe's autocratic leader of 28 years has failed to win re-election. A presidential candidate needs at least 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff.

However, Movement for Democratic Change general secretary Tendai Biti said there was no need.

"We maintain that we have won the presidential election outright without the need for a run-off," Biti told a news conference.

Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga, said the opposition party was being "irresponsible" and "mischevious."

"They have got to be very careful with their activities," Matonga told the British Broadcasting Corp. "They think they can provoke ZANU-PF, and the police and the army."

The government had previously warned that premature announcement of election results by the Movement for Democratic Change would be tantamount to a coup attempt.

In campaigning, 84-year-old Mugabe had likened the elections to a boxing match, with his party winning in a knockout. Mugabe has been silent since the vote.

The commission has offered no results in the presidential race, saying Tuesday it still was receiving ballot boxes from the provinces. That raised questions about where those boxes have been since Saturday night, when some electoral officials slept on the ground to guard the votes.

Washington has indicated it believed the opposition had won. "It's clear the people of Zimbabwe have voted for change," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

The European Union said it wants Mugabe to step down.

At independence, Mugabe was hailed for his policies of racial reconciliation and development that brought education and health to millions who had been denied those services under colonial rule. Zimbabwe's economy thrived on exports of food, minerals and tobacco.

The unraveling began when Mugabe ordered the often-violent seizures of white-owned commercial farms turned over to blacks, mainly relatives, friends and cronies who allowed cultivated fields to be taken over by weeds.

Today, a third of the population depends on imported food handouts. Another third has fled the country and 80 percent is jobless. Inflation is the highest in the world at more than 100,000 percent and people suffer crippling shortages of food, water, electricity, fuel and medicine. Life expectancy has fallen from 60 to 35 years.

[AriseSouthAfrica]

Mugabe's party loses control of parliament

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/we-have-beaten-mugabe-says-mdc-803637.html

By Stella Mapenzauswa, Reuters
Wednesday, 2 April 2008

Zimbabwe's ruling party lost control of parliament today and the opposition said it had also defeated veteran leader Robert Mugabe in a presidential vote.

Official figures said the combined opposition had taken 105 seats in the 210 seat parliament with one going to an independent. Mugabe's ZANU-PF has so far taken 94.

The mainstream Movement of Democratic Change faction of Morgan Tsvangirai said he had won 50.3 per cent of the presidential vote and Mugabe 43.8 per cent according to its own tallies of results posted outside polling stations.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said this absolute majority was enough for outright victory but Tsvangirai would accept a second round run-off against Mugabe "under protest".

Biti appealed to Mugabe, president for the last 28 years, to concede defeat and avoid "embarrassment".

Mugabe, 84, faced an unprecedented challenge in Saturday's elections because of the economic collapse of his once prosperous country.

His government immediately rejected the MDC victory claim as "mischievous".

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told Sky television: "President Mugabe is going nowhere. We are not going to be pressurized into anything."

The government has warned that victory claims before an official result would be regarded as a coup d'etat.

Matonga said in a telephone interview with Sky: "No-one is panicking around President Mugabe. The army is very solidly behind our president, the police force as well."

He added: "We are not going to be rushed by anybody. They can make statements left right and centre, but they are merely wasting their time."

No official results of the presidential poll have been issued four days after the election and Mugabe has not been seen in public since voting, despite speculation he would make a television address on Tuesday night.

Biti's announcement indicated a change in the MDC position in accepting a second round run-off against Mugabe. Tsvangirai said on Tuesday he had won outright.

Mugabe's government appears to have been preparing the population for a run-off by revealing its own projections showing a second round would be required in the statutory three weeks after last Saturday's vote.

Both Tsvangirai and the government have dismissed widespread speculation that the MDC was negotiating with ZANU-PF for a managed exit for Mugabe, who has ruled uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1980.

The state-owned Herald newspaper said on Wednesday projections for the presidential election showed Mugabe would fail to win an outright majority for the first time in nearly three decades.

The prospect of a run-off has raised fears both inside and outside Zimbabwe that the hiatus before a new vote would spark serious violence between security forces and militia loyal to Mugabe on one side and MDC supporters on the other.

The Herald also said the government had decided to immediately implement tax relief to cushion the effect of runaway inflation, officially over 100,000 per cent but estimated to be much higher - the world's highest rate.

The widening of workers' tax-free threshold tenfold to 300 million Zimbabwean dollars per month - $10,000 at the government's official rate but about $7.50 on the black market - is widely seen as an attempt to curry favour with voters and suggests ZANU-PF is preparing for a run-off.

A senior Western diplomat in Harare told Reuters the international community was discussing ideas to try to persuade Mugabe to step down, "but I don't think there is anything firm on the table."

The opposition and international observers said Mugabe rigged the last presidential election in 2002. But some analysts say the groundswell of discontent over the economy is too great for him to fix the result this time without risking major unrest.

Apart from surreal inflation of more than 100,000 per cent and a virtually worthless currency, Zimbabweans are suffering food and fuel shortages and an HIV/AIDS epidemic that has contributed to a steep drop in life expectancy.

The opposition, including former Finance Minister Simba Makoni, who stood as a third candidate, is expected to unite behind Tsvangirai if there is a run-off.

[AriseSouthAfrica]

Zimbabwe/Magabe What Now?

Mike Davies, Southern Africa Analyst, Eurasia Group

"Because Zanu PF have conceded this, in some ways it makes them conceding the presidency less likely - although it is clear President Mugabe's position is becoming increasingly precarious.

"Despite the MDC's apparent initial lead, the official presidential result will likely be engineered with votes from rural areas to either force a run-off or guarantee outright victory for Mugabe. I think the security forces are going to resist any straightforward overall handover to the MDC. Mugabe will use the advantages of incumbency in any second-round against the opposition, although he may announce a successor to get political advantage that way."

Christ Hart, Economist, Investment Solutions

"I think Zimbabwe now shifts from moving down a path of decline to a path of recovery and I think this particular result changes everything.

"However, a full recovery is probably only five to seven years away. But, I think the prospect of getting inflation under control is now a lot stronger especially as one of Tsvangirai's plans is to float the dollar - leave it to market.

"You might still see a weakness of the currency but with inward investment coming in... there will be an improvement. The indigenisation bill will be thrown out of the window as a key immediate improvement measure.

"The ruling party has lost their ability to apply patronage, there is no rationale to vote for them anymore (in the second round)."

"The conduct of the security forces, which have been a hindrance, will not longer be a hindrance now. Mugabe has no hope in the second round. In fact, it will be in his best interest not to stand because the scale of the actual loss would be magnified."

Richard segal, Renaissance Capital Analyst

"It was always likely that parliamentary election results would be more transparent than the presidential vote. Given how poor the economy is, it is surprising that the ruling party has won as many seats as it has. This suggests that the ruling party may be more popular than Mugabe is and lends credence to the belief that a unity government could be formed between the different parties. Mugabe and his immediate circle would been seen as the problem rather than his party."

Richard Doden, Director, Royal African Society
To Sky News

"If the president steps down while in office his successor is then elected by parliament and this was interpreted as being Mugabe's opportunity to virtually pick his own successor. This has put the kibosh on that. Even if he does survive as president, he won't be able to go at the time of his choosing and choose his own successor."

"He doesn't believe in going backwards or retreating or giving up. He's a fighter and even at 84 I think he'll have one last throw of the dice in one form or another."

Source URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20080402173237623C998997