01/08/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporters
18:50PM - South African President Jacob Zuma on SABC News says he will not pass judgement on Zimbabwe's elections until the vote counting is over and results announced. Asked about Morgan Tsvangirai's claims that the vote had been manipulated, he says the MDC-T leader will have to produce evidence to prove his claims.
18:45PM - MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti says he "survived" in Harare East but says "there is no chance I will be in government under any leader other than Morgan Tsvangirai", he tells the UK Independent newspaper's David Smith. He adds: "The good work we've done in the last four-and-half years in rebuilding the economy is going to be reversed in seconds."
18:42PM - David Coltart, defeated in Bulawayo East by 19 votes, surveys the MDC's defeat and concedes that it is "obviouslty catastrophic, there's no point putting a gloss on it." But he claims that "Zimbabwe has been subjected to electoral fraud on a massive scale."
17:40PM - Zanu PF's Saviour Kasukuwere rejects Morgan Tsvangirai's claims of vote fraud as "nonsense". Pointing to the loss of key seats, including Professor Jonathan Moyo's Tsholotsho North, he asks:"Would we rig ourselves? He's talking absolute nonsense."
Kasukuwere says President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF heading for a crushing victory. "It's a landslide, a total annihilation of the MDC. Their project has failed."
17:26 - Professor Jonathan Moyo (Zanu PF) has lost the Tsholotsho North seat to the MDC-T by slightly over 300 seats, according to several sources.
17:00PM - Roy Bennett, the exiled treasurer of Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T party, calls for campaign of passive resistance as he accuses Zanu PF of "stealing" the election. "Don't pay bills, don't attend work, just bring the country to a standstill."
Last night, he used his Twitter account [@RoyPachedu] to predict a victory for his party. He said: "I'm hearing good things all round, cannot believe they can even rig this. If they steal it again, we will not sit on our hands. Never!!"
16:15PM - MDC-T national chairman Lovemore Moyo has lost Matobo North seat to Zanu PF by 81 votes, according to several sources.
16:05PM - A source close to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says all results should be ready by mid-day on Friday. Official results could start being announced tonight.
14:25PM - Our correspondent at the Welshman Ncube led MDC election HQ in Bulawayo has caught up with Paul Themba Nyathi, who declares that he has lost in Gwanda North to Zanu PF.
Nyathi is critical of Morgan Tsvangirai’s stance that election “null and void”. He suggests Zanu PF has won fair and square.
He says: “Five days ago, I got a feeling that Gwanda North was unwinnable. People who used to come to our rallies and support us suddenly couldn’t look me in the eye. They started vacillating.
“We had a free and fair contest, everyone was free to canvass and the vote was peaceful. Hand on heart, I think Zanu PF beat us fair and square. There’s something that made people to fall in love with Zanu PF again, and it’s not intimidation.
“I think Morgan Tsvangirai has spoken too soon, he needs a quiet corner to reflect and I think the right course is to concede and move on.”
12PM - Morgan Tsvangirai speaks to reporters, says “election has been a huge farce. Its credibility has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affect the legitimacy of its outcome.”
He cites “two critical issues” – he says the vote does not meet SADC Guidelines on elections and points to Zanu PF’s failure to “implement SADC reforms” including licensing of TV stations and reform of the country’s security services (police and army).
His concerns include:
1.1 Voters’ Roll
# Thousands failed to register and were disenfranchised
# Not delivered timeously as required by law
# No proper inspection of the voters’ roll to verify authenticity
# Duplication of names on the voters roll
# Unauthorised movement of voters from their wards (leading to almost 40% voters being turned away and disenfranchised)
1.2 Manipulation of voters’ choice - Voters forced to plead illiteracy and resort to “assistance”.
1.3 Use of traditional leaders (chiefs and headmen) to intimidate voters.
1.4 Unauthorised voter migration - Voters bussed into constituencies to vote eg Harare South, Epworth
1.5 Unaccounted for voters especially in farming areas
1.6 Abuse of the facility to use Voter Registration Slips as proof of registration
1.7 Militarisation of the electoral process – electoral processes under the effective control of security personnel
1.8 Lack of transparency in the printing of ballots
a.) non-compliance with section 51 of the Electoral Act.
b.) over-printing of ballots (more than 35%) and lack of accountability for ballots.
1.9 Lack of transparency and double-voting in the use of the
Special Vote
1.10 Lack of transparency in the use of the Postal Voting system
Tsvangirai says he has met the head of the African Union observer mission, the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and told him that “this is not a credible election. It does not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.”
He adds: “For the above reasons, the election has been heavily manipulated. In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate. But more importantly, the shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis.”
He finishes by asking the “SADC and the AU audit teams to look into this process, in particular the voters roll, the ballots and the manner in which the whole process was conducted”, adding: “In our view this election does not meet the SADC, AU and international standards for a credible, legitimate, free and fair election.”
Smelling defeat ... Morgan Tsvangirai speaks to reporters on Thursday
11:45AM – The Electoral Commission Forum of SADC (not to be mistaken with the main SADC observer mission) says election was “credible, free and fair and we urge that the result should be accepted”. Addressing concerns about the voters’ roll, it adds: “No country has a perfect voters roll.”
11:45AM – The Catholic Commission of Justice and Peace praises “peaceful environment” in Zimbabwe and “positive achievements” in conduct of elections.
11.45AM – The BBC’s Andrew Harding in Harare says he has spoken to a Nigerian observer for the African Union who praised “free, peaceful, very good” vote in Bindura. “Nobody was turned away,” he is quoted as saying.
11:45 – The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN), an NGO, calls a news conference where it raises allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the election. It had 7,000 observers throughout the country. It claims that the election “seriously compromised”, adding: “These factors fundamentally undermine the degree to which results of election reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.”
11:45AM – The world’s news media starts reporting, citing a Zanu PF source, that President Robert Mugabe has won the presidential race by a landslide.
11.30AM – A source at Zanu PF election HQ says Goodwills Masimirembwa, who campaign heavily in Mabvuku-Tafara (Harare) has lost. The MDC-T will retain that seat.
# In Bulawayo, David Coltart (MDC) said to lose the closely-fought Bulawayo East race to incumbent Thabitha Khumalo (MDC-T) by 19 votes.
# In Mashonaland West, Zanu PF projected to win 21 out of 22 seats; in Masvingo the Zanu PF rebel Munyaradzi Kereke said to be coming strong as an independent and Zanu PF projected to win 22 or the 23 seats ; in Mashonaland Central, Zanu PF is projected to reclaim the two seats it lost in 2008 for a total wipe-out of 22 out of 22; in Bulawayo, the MDC-T is seen winning all 12 seats as they did in 2008; in Manicaland, Zanu PF is projected to reclaim 20 seats to claim a share of 22 out of 26; in the Midlands Zanu PF appears to be edging to between 23-25 of the 28 contested seats; in Harare Zanu PF is set to improve on its one MP with a projected share of eight out of 29 seats with the MDC-T getting the rest. In Mashonaland East Zanu PF is seen winning 22 out of 23 seats; in Matabeleland South Zanu PF is projected to win 12 of the 13 seats on offer while in Matabeleland North they are seen winning between 8-9 of the 12 constituencies.
11AM: In Harare, MDC-T heavyweights Theresa Makone, Jameson Timba and the former ZBC DJ Eric Knight said to be struggling. The party’s secretary general Tendai Biti, carrying an advantage of 6,000 from the 2008 elections, suddenly finds himself under a serious challenge as well as Gift Chimanikire and Tapiwa Mashakada.
9AM – Polling stations begin posting results outside. At least 15 polling stations out of around 50 visited by our correspondent in Tsholotsho North show the incumbent Jonathan Moyo may be in trouble. He could still turn it around.
8AM – Voting continuing throughout the country. Early indications point to a strong Zanu PF showing in Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North. Only Bulawayo and Harare look promising for MDC-T.
posted by MrK @ 7:26 PM
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Further updates to this article:
08:00 Friday: FIRST official results from the national assembly elections showed President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party storming ahead, winning 52 of 62 seats announced so far with the MDC-T winning the other 10.
8:30PM: RESULTS - ZEC release 29 House of Assembly seats. Zanu PF takes 26 seats against three for the MDC-T.
18:50PM - South African President Jacob Zuma on SABC News says he will not pass judgement on Zimbabwe's elections until the vote counting is over and results announced. Asked about Morgan Tsvangirai's claims that the vote had been manipulated, he says the MDC-T leader will have to produce evidence to prove his claims.
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