0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s longtime president, Robert Mugabe, won 61 percent of the presidential vote, trailed by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai at 33 percent, election officials announced Saturday.Mugabe, 89 and in power for 33 years, has another five-year term in office, according to the results.Ruling and opposition lawmakers fight on the legislature floor in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. Taiwanese lawmakers exchanged punches and thrown water at each other ahead of an expected vote authorizing a referendum on whether to go ahead with the construction of a fourth power plant. Friday’s fracas pitted the pro-referendum forces of President Ma Ying-jeou’s ruling Nationalist Party against strongly anti-nuclear forces affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party won 158 of the 210 parliament seats, giving it a two-thirds majority in the legislature that enables it to make amendments to the new constitution and existing laws, according to the results announced by the country’s election commission. Tsvangirai’s party captured 50 seats, and two went to independent candidates.Tsvangirai rejected the results earlier Saturday as fraudulent and called for fresh elections. He urged a peaceful response to the alleged rigging undertaken by ZANU-PF.Tsvangirai said his Movement for Democratic Change party has in its possession evidence of tampering in Wednesday’s polls and will challenge the results.
The US and UK have expressed concerns after Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won a seventh term in office amid claims of electoral fraud.US Secretary of State John Kerry said the results did not "represent a credible expression of the people".Mr Mugabe, 89, won 61% of the vote, against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's 34%.But Mr Tsvangirai rejected the vote for parliament and president as fraudulent and vowed to take legal action.He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would no longer work with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and boycott government institutions.The two parties have been in a coalition since 2009, after the last election sparked widespread violence.Results from this week's parliamentary election showed the MDC had been trounced, winning just 49 seats compared with Zanu-PF's 158.'Deeply flawed'Major Western groups were not invited to send observer missions to monitor Wednesday's election.The US has described the vote as "deeply flawed"."In light of substantial electoral irregularities reported by domestic and regional observers, the United States does not believe that the results represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people," Mr Kerry said.Former colonial power the UK also expressed "grave concerns" over reports of large numbers of voters being turned away from polling stations.MDC party leader Morgan Tsvangirai called the election ''fraudulent and stolen''British Foreign Minister William Hague urged a thorough investigation of all allegations of violations.Meanwhile the European Union which maintains sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his senior aides, said it was worried about "alleged irregularities and reports of incomplete participation" in the election.
