ZIMBABWE ELECTION: Tsvangirai Accuses Mugabe of Vote Rigging

Zimbabwe’s prime minister and presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, has slammed the election process in the African country, accusing incumbent President Robert Mugabe of vote rigging.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai

Tsvangirai’s remarks came immediately after Mugabe’s allies in the ruling party of Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF, claimed victory in the presidential election on Thursday.

In response to the claim, a high-ranking source in Tsvangirai’s MDC party issued a statement, saying, “Zimbabweans have been taken for a ride by ZANU-PF and Mugabe, we do not accept it.”

The Electoral Commission announced that vote counting had been completed in presidential as well as parliamentary polls and that results are being collated.

Unofficial results compiled by civil society groups suggest that Mugabe did surprisingly well in urban areas where he normally falls flat.

However, local observers have called Wednesday’s election seriously compromised.

The previous presidential election in Zimbabwe was held in 2008. That vote went to a run-off from which Tsvangirai withdrew citing violence against his supporters. The withdrawal led to Mugabe’s uncontested victory in the landlocked country.