Zimbabwe begins checks of presidential votes

Morgan Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe yesterday

Officials began verifying the results from Zimbabwe's March 29 presidential poll today, bringing a step closer the release of the long delayed vote count, says the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

Senior government sources say opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has beaten President Robert Mugabe but not by the outright majority to avoid a run-off ballot with the veteran leader, who has held power for 28 years.

The month-long delay to the results has raised fears of bloodshed and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused Mugabe of prolonging the wait to rig the outcome.

The checks to the results are designed to ensure all candidates are happy with the electoral commission's figures. Representatives of Tsvangirai and Mugabe were on hand as it began in Harare's International Conference Centre.

"This process can take a day, a week or even two weeks. It depends on whether we agree on and can tally our figures," says Chris Mbanga, Tsvangirai's representative at the vote check.

Tsvangirai has spent weeks outside Zimbabwe in a bid to raise foreign pressure on Mugabe to concede the election in a country suffering economic collapse. He said in an interview broadcast today that he would return after verification of the results.

No way to avoid run-off
No result has been announced to the public yet, but senior government sources said Tsvangirai won 47% of the vote against the president's 43%. If confirmed, that would mean that a run-off is necessary.

The MDC won control of Zimbabwe's parliament in a parallel election more than one month ago, and it says that Tsvangirai also won an outright majority in the presidential so that no run-off is needed. Tsvangirai has suggested he could still take part in a second round if international observers led by the UN monitored the process. The only observers at the first round were from Zimbabwe's neighbours.

If Tsvangirai refused to take part in a run-off, Mugabe would be declared the winner, according to election rules. A run-off should be held within 21 days of a result being announced.

The MDC has accused the government of launching a campaign of violence and intimidation ahead of the possible second round and said 20 of its members had been killed by pro-government militias. – Reuters