Tension mounted in Zimbabwe as it emerged that President Robert Mugabe had arbitrarily blocked the result of the weekend’s cliff-hanger presidential election to manipulate it in his favour, writes AllAfrica.com.
By late Monday no official presidential vote results were available, prompting the US, the UK and the European Union to call for the state-run Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to act swiftly.
Monday night, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the federation was “extremely concerned” over the slow counting of votes.
OFFICIELLE TAL SIGER UAFGJORT
Almost 48 hours after polls closed, only 67 of 210 parliamentary constituencies had been declared, showing Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party one seat ahead of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The withholding of the result has caused a tense situation in a country already reeling from a deep economic crisis, and heightened fears of instability in the region.
UBEHAGELIGE TEGN
On Sunday, Mugabe met the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which comprises army, police and intelligence chiefs, for an emergency meeting to discuss security.
This was prompted by the growing fears that if Mugabe had managed to rig the elections — as opposition groups have claimed — antigovernment street protests could spontaneously erupt.
Security sources said Mugabe and the JOC decided to withhold the presidential election results and release the outcomes of the parliamentary, senate and local council polls in small batches to manage the volatile situation and prepare the nation for a Mugabe victory.
