Zimbabwe's main opposition today claimed victory after a general election yesterday in which it claimed President Robert Mugabe attempted to rig the vote.
Secretary General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Tendai Biti said results posted at polling stations showed his party had at least 66 per cent of votes cast in the capital, Harare.
It also had leads in the Mashonaland Central province and had won a majority in the southern province of Masvingo - traditionally a stronghold for Mr Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party.
Mr Biti said the figures were reflected across the country. "In our view the trend is irreversible and, barring a miracle, Mugabe can't win. We've won this election."
The announcement defied a stern warning from security chiefs ahead of the election who argued an unofficial declaration would be illegal and could spark violence. But opposition lawyers said the information already was in the public domain.
A government spokesman later warned that premature victory claims would be seen as an attempted coup. "We all know how coups are handled," he told the state-owned
Sunday Mail.
Mr Biti said later expressed concerned at the delays, which traditionally begin emerging soon after polls close.
George Chiweshe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the count was "more complicated" than expected and he would release results as soon as possible.
But election observers who visited the commission’s headquarters said it appeared to have only a skeleton staff and appeared in no rush to release results.
Mr Chiweshe later had to be rescued by security men in a Harare hotel when he was confronted by journalists and opposition supporters demanding publication of the results.
Yesterday's election was held amid accusations by human rights groups, including Amnesty International, that the government harassed the opposition and threatened to cut food supplies to voters who failed to back the ruling party.
Western monitors and media were barred from witnessing the ballot.
The MDC said voters and party officials had been turned away from polling stations and erasable voting ink was used to enable fraud by government supporters. Some 3 million surplus ballot papers were printed to ensure "there will be multiple voting" Mr Biti claimed.
Observers from the Pan-African parliament said in a letter to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that they hadfound more than 8,000 non-existent people registered on a piece of empty land in a Harare constituency.
Poll officials began counting ballots last night in an election in which President Mugabe (84) is seeking to extend his 28-year rule of the southern African nation. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai (56) and Simba Makoni, a 58-year-old former finance minister, were his main challengers.
No official results have been announced yet and the final tally may only be known later this week. If no presidential candidate wins over 50 per cent, there will be a run-off.
The MDC, which has been battling Zanu-PF since 2000, also won a seat in Mr Mugabe's home province of Mashonaland West, Mr Biti said. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-biggest city, the MDC has a "narrow lead" over Mr Makoni with Zanu-PF in third place, he said.
Mr Mugabe, who has ruled since independence in 1980, is blamed for ruining Zimbabwe's economy, operating an elaborate and expensive system of patronage and suppressing political dissent.