Zimbabwe 'on a precipice', says MDC

Last Modified: 31 Mar 2008
By: Jonathan Rugman

As results from the Zimbabwe elections continue to trickle out, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change claims victory amid allegations of vote-rigging.

The MDC predicts President Mugabe will be declared the winner of Saturday's elections, narrowly avoiding a run-off. And if that happens, they say they will not accept the result.

The government has denied voting irregularities, and the Zimbabwe Election Commission has still to release any official results for the presidential election.

But the MDC today claimed Morgan Tsvangirai had won 60 per cent of the vote - double that received by President Mugabe.

One monitoring group says the MDC has won 117 seats and Zanu PF 50

The results counted so far in the parliamentary election show that the MDC has 25 seats, trailing the president's Zanu PF party, which has 26. But several of the president's key ministers have been voted out.

A monitoring group that claims to have collated results posted at polling stations says the MDC has won 117 seats - and Zanu PF 50.

Channel 4 News is among several foreign news organisations banned from reporting these elections from Zimbabwe.

So the accompanying report, on the dispute over results released so far, was sent from Johannesburg.