ZIMBABWE: ZIMBABWE'S PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe lost his grip on the country's parliament yesterday after the official electoral body released results revealing the opposition had won a majority in the lower house.
The results released by Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission effectively means that even in the unlikely event the 84-year-old dictator was declared an outright winner in the presidential race, in the future he would no longer be able to push laws through a supportive parliament.
The electoral commission said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had won 105 seats while an independent candidate, Mr Mugabe's former information minister Jonathan Moyo, also retained his seat in the 210-member chamber. Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF had won 93 seats with only a handful of results still to come in.
Yesterday MDC secretary general Tendai Biti claimed that in the presidential race Mr Tsvangirai had won 50.3 per cent of the vote to Mugabe's 43.8 per cent.
A candidate needs 50 per cent plus one vote to win outright the presidential race outright and avoid a run- off. "We maintain that we have won the presidential election outright without the need for a run-off," Mr Biti said.
However, deputy information minister Bright Matonga told reporters following the MDC's statement: "President Mugabe is going nowhere. We are not going to be pressurised into anything."
Even though Mr Mugabe has yet to address the issue, his government appears to be preparing the population for a run-off in the statutory three weeks after last Saturday's vote. The state-run Heraldnewspaper yesterday said a second round would be required before the country's next president would be known.
The MDC has indicated that if a run-off were to take place they would be confident of victory. While this is partially due to their growing momentum, it is also widely expected that supporters of the third-placed presidential candidate would support Mr Tsvangirai.
Simba Makoni, a former finance minister and Zanu-PF official who represents a large group of disgruntled members in the ruling regime, won 6.8 per cent of the presidential vote.
Last week Mr Makoni's campaign manager Nkosana Moyo said Zimbabweans would like to see "an end to Mugabe's mismanagement, so any configuration that leads to a run-off will see Mugabe on one side and everybody else on the other".
Speculation has been rife that the delay of the official presidential results was being used by Mugabe loyalists to rig the results.
At the same time, people close to the electoral commission and the opposition have reported that secret negotiations between the security forces and the MDC have been taking place in order to formulate a plan that allows Mugabe and his henchmen to step down and avoid retribution.
"Mugabe is a high stakes political gambler, and I think he is going to go for it with everything he can marshal. But I don't think he can reverse his fortunes," said Brian Kagoro, a lawyer and political commentator.