Zimbabwe opposition disputes official poll results

2 May, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: The Independent
AP
Friday, 2 May 2008

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent of the vote in Zimbabwe’s presidential elections, elections officials said Friday — not enough to avoid a runoff against President Robert Mugabe.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change challenged the results, saying the Electoral Commission ignored its objections and concerns about the vote count.

“We have been overruled. We are in dispute. It is not fair,” Chris Mbanga, the polling agent for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, told The Associated Press.

The Electoral Commission on Friday released the long-delayed results from Zimbabwe’s March 29 presidential vote, saying Mugabe won 43.2 percent of votes to Tsvangirai’s 47.9 percent, requiring a second-round vote.

“No candidate has received a majority of votes counted. A second election will be held at a date to be announced,” the commission said in a statement.

Tsvangirai — who has maintained that he won the presidency with more than 50 percent of the vote — said previously that he will not participate in any runoff. Even before the [continue reading]

Zimbabwe: Gono `Frees` Forex Trade

2 May, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: allAfrica
The Herald (Harare)
Published by the government of Zimbabwe

1 May 2008
Posted to the web 1 May 2008

Victoria Ruzvidzo
Harare

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has liberalised the foreign currency market by introducing an interbank trading system that will result in exchange rates being determined by the forces of supply and demand to encourage inflows into the formal market.

Individuals, embassies and other institutions will now sell their foreign currency to banks and other authorised dealers on a willing-buyer/willing-seller basis.

Presenting the 2008 First Quarter Monetary Policy Statement in Harare yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono announced key measures to guide foreign currency trading, set to subdue activity on the parallel market.

The measures were also in response to requests by the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe to liberalise the exchange rate system.

“Freeing the exchange rate system by introducing an interbank foreign exchange market in order to formalise the trading of [continue reading]

Zimbabwe government says it has results showing runoff is needed

2 May, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: International Herald Tribune
The Associated Press
Published: May 1, 2008

HARARE, Zimbabwe: A runoff election will be required to decide Zimbabwe’s presidential election, a cabinet minister said Thursday, citing the government’s own election results.

The deputy information minister, Bright Matonga, made his comments a day after the opposition rejected any possibility of a runoff, despite a media report that the official tally – still not released more than a month after the election – showed that its candidate had beaten President Robert Mugabe, but not by enough to avoid a second round.

On Wednesday, CNN quoted an unidentified senior official from Mugabe’s ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union, or ZANU-PF, as saying that its own results from the March 29 election gave the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, 47 percent of the vote and Mugabe 43 percent.

Matonga said Thursday that the ruling party would take part in a runoff. “As far as I’m concerned, there is going to be a runoff,” Matonga said. “We have got our own results.”

Matonga would not say whether the government’s tallies were [continue reading]

Zimbabwe Presidential results: Verification begins

2 May, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: The Herald
Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Herald Reporter

VERIFICATION of the presidential election results began in Harare yesterday with representatives of the candidates who contested the March 29 poll in attendance.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission presented to the representatives the results it came up with for comparison with figures compiled by the contesting parties on their own.

ZEC deputy chief elections officer (operations) Mr Utloile Silaigwana said after presenting the results, parties were given the chance to lodge objections.

“The verification process is basically to allow parties to compare our final figures with their own results before we announce them, according to an agreement reached by all parties before we called for the process to begin.

“We have presented our figures to [continue reading]