Harare, Zimbabwe, Apr 2, 2008 / 01:25 am
Results from Zimbabwe’s presidential election, held last Saturday, indicate that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will defeat President Robert Mugabe. However, according to the ruling party’s projections, Tsvangirai will be forced into a runoff vote, Reuters reports.
Reuters’ sources with the ruling party, ZANU-PF, said Tsvangirai would fall short of the 51 percent necessary for an outright victory.
According to two senior government sources, Tsvangirai would get only 48.3 percent of the vote, while Mugabe would receive 43 percent. A third candidate, former finance minister Simba Makoni, would receive eight percent.
A projection by the independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZERN) claimed that Tsvangirai will receive 49.4 percent of the vote, compared to Mugabe’s projected 41.8 percent.