HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe's state newspaper on Wednesday predicted a runoff in last weekend's presidential vote — the first official admission that the country's autocratic leader of 28 years has failed to win re-election.
The opposition insisted it won an outright victory, and threatened to publish its own figures if full results from Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections were not released quickly.
Independent monitors and Western governments say election results show the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by labor leader Morgan Tsvangirai, won a comfortable majority over President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
Zimbabwe's state newspaper, The Herald, suggested the election was close.
"The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday released more election results with indications that Zanu-PF and the MDC Tsvangirai faction are headed for a tie in the House of Assembly poll, while the pattern of results in the presidential election shows that none of the candidates will garner more than 50 percent of the vote, forcing a re-run," the newspaper reported Wednesday.
But Tsvangirai addressed a news conference Tuesday as if he had already been declared president.
"For years we have trod a journey of hunger, pain, torture and brutality," he said. "Today we face a new challenge of governing and rehabilitating our beloved country, the challenge of giving birth to a new Zimbabwe founded on restoration not retribution, on love not war."
In campaigning, 84-year-old Mugabe had likened the elections to a boxing match, with his party winning in a knockout. Mugabe has been silent since the vote.
Washington has indicated it believed the opposition had won. "It's clear the people of Zimbabwe have voted for change," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
The European Union said it wants Mugabe to step down.
The Electoral Commission has released results for 188 of the 210 parliamentary seats — giving the opposition 96 seats and Mugabe's party 92. Seven Cabinet ministers have lost their seats, according to those results.
The commission has offered no results in the presidential race, saying Tuesday it still was receiving ballot boxes from the provinces. That raised questions about where those boxes have been since Saturday night, when some electoral officials slept on the ground to guard the votes.
Speculation was rife that Mugabe loyalists were trying to buy time to rig results, even as people close to the electoral commission and the opposition reported secret negotiations to allow Mugabe to exit gracefully.
Tsvangirai, 56, denied Tuesday he was in talks with Mugabe, saying he was first waiting for an official announcement of results. He claimed to have won more than the 50 percent needed for a first-round victory.
But a businessman close to the electoral commission and a lawyer close to the opposition said the two men's aides were negotiating a way for Mugabe to cede power. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Several diplomats said they had heard similar reports, but could not confirm secret talks were under way.
"There are no discussions," Tsvangirai said.
Tensions rose as the days passed without an official announcement on the presidential vote, and some people stayed home from work. A senior police officer, Wayne Bvudzijena, said on state radio: "Our forces are more than ready to deal with perpetrators of violence." Continue >>
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