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Opposition chief declares victory in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said yesterday that he was the clear winner over President Robert Mugabe in the first round of a presidential election and there was no need for a run-off.

“The result is known, that the MDC won the presidential and parliamentary election. President Mugabe and ZANU-PF [the ruling party] should accept the results,” Tsvangirai told reporters in his first declaration that he had won at the first attempt.

”The MDC won the election and will not accept the suppression of the will of the people,” he said, referring to his party, the Movement for Democratic Change.

Earlier yesterday, a Zimbabwe court postponed a legal bid by the opposition to force the release of presidential election results after the electoral commission asked for more time to prepare its response.

Armed police had earlier briefly prevented lawyers from the opposition MDC from entering the High Court, although they were later allowed in.

The opposition believes a long delay in issuing results from the election a week ago masks attempts by Mugabe to buy time to strategize. The ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament in the election for the first time in 28 years.

MDC lawyer Andrew Makoni said the case had been postponed until noon today because the electoral commission had wanted more time to prepare its argument.

Makoni and another opposition lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, were prevented from entering the court by police — apparently from Mugabe’s offices across the road.

Projections by the ruling party and independent monitors suggest that when the result is eventually announced, Tsvangirai will fall short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a second round.

There are strong signs that Mugabe’s government is preparing for a counter-offensive after the biggest setback of his rule.

The veteran president had looked wounded earlier in the week when ZANU-PF suffered its first election defeat. But a meeting of the party’s politburo resolved on Friday he would fight a runoff against Tsvangirai.

Party officials alleged widespread MDC bribery of electoral officials and said they would legally challenge the results in 16 constituencies, enough to overturn the result if successful.

Under electoral law a presidential runoff must be held three weeks after results are released. Analysts believe Mugabe will use his control of state apparatus, including the security forces, as well as pro-government militias to intimidate MDC supporters.

The UK and the US, both of whom have applied sanctions on Mugabe and his top officials, have criticized the election delay and suggested it could be the precursor to a rigged result.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was at a conference of “progressive governance” near London, told the international community to wait for the full election results and said it was not time for action.

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