After a month of disclosure, the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission summoned Friday to make public the results of the March 29
presidential election, according to the New York Times. The opposition candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai won more votes than the current president, Robert Mugabe. Still, the
difference was not big enough to avoid a runoff, as Mr. Tsvangirai hasn’t
gained more than 47.9%, while the necessary quote is 50% of the total.
The opposition rejected the results, as
they are unsatisfied that their leader hasn’t attained pure victory
“They did not verify the results. They did not
give us an opportunity to contest the results. They are waylaying the people’s
will. Clearly, this is scandalous,” said Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the
opposition.
They said they were not sure about
participating to the runoff, since they suspected the announced results were
not the right ones. They also complained about these being bewrayed, as the vote
verification process was short-circuited.
As expected, Mr Mugabe has accepted the
result and declared he would stand in the runoff.
Election officials said they would soon
announce a date for the runoff, which is required by the law to take place
within 21 days., as the Washington Post informs.
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