Zimbabwean election commission calls for partial recount
Sunday, 13 Apr 2008 19:38
Morgan Tsvangirai believes he has won the election
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Zimbabwe's election body has ordered that votes in 23 constituencies be recounted two weeks after polls were held in the country.
The country's state-owned newspaper said the ruling Zanu-PF party had called into question the accuracy of results in 22 districts while the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was doubtful over the result of one constituency.
Voters chose their representatives for the country's senate, parliament, president and local council votes in 23 areas on March 29th. All these ballots will now be recounted
Previous official results showed that the opposition had gained a narrow lead in the country's parliament without releasing complete results in the other contests. The MDC claimed to have won elections a day after they were held on the basis of unofficial results posted outside polling stations, although the country's election commission did not confirm the claim.
Zimbabwe has been ruled by president Robert Mugabe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980 and the recent economic turmoil in the country has worried regional leaders. An emergency meeting of the 14-nation Southern
African Development Community was convened yesterday to help resolve the problems facing Zimbabwe.
Mr Mugabe did not attend the meeting which urged the country to verify and release results "expeditiously" and "in accordance with the due process of law". It also called for all parties to the electoral process to accept the results.
News of the recount came soon after the conference's announcement and the MDC's spokesman Nelson Chamisa told the Reuters news agency that it feared the results had been rigged as the authorities had custody of the ballot boxes for over two weeks.
Zimbabwean authorities have rejected the claims.