First results look good for the MDC, but many believe Mugabe isn't finished yet
Harare, 4.0 pm, Sunday
A party atmosphere of joy and celebration is spreading across this country this afternoon, as the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe are beginning to believe that at last this election has given Robert Mugabe the universal thumbs-down.
Church services have been cut short as people crowd around radios to listen to early unofficial results, almost all of which indicate gains for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and in particular those candidates allied to the MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Each unofficial result has been greeted with roars of applause and cheering. Beer halls are said to be filling up with celebrating voters, and traders report huge sales in fire crackers. But underneath the joy there is a nagging doubt. Are these early celebrations truly justified?
Early returns seem to suggest they are. Tendai Biti, the MDC Secretary General, has already claimed victory, announcing that the Tsvangirai faction of the party has won all 28 House of Assembly seats in Harare except for Harare South where there is some doubt, and all 13 seats in Bulawayo, the country's second city, with gains from both Zanu-PF and the Muambara faction of MDC.
He also claimed that the MDC had won the Bindura seat in the heart of Mashonaland Central, previously a Zanu-PF stronghold. Other seats believed to have fallen to the MDC includes ones in Mbizo, Kwekwe Centgral, Mkoba, Gweru urban, Masvingo urban and Manicaland.
In the personal race for the Presidency, Morgan Tsvangirai is said to be well out in front, with Simba Makoni second and Mugabe a poor third.
But some voices are advising caution, pointing out that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has yet to release a single official result. ZEC chairman George Chiweshe, under extreme pressure from the media, admitted he had no idea when the first results would be released.
This is of some concern to opposition officials, because the ZEC, supposedly neutral, is known to be part of the Mugabe power set-up.
Tendai Biti spoke plainly of his fears: "We are very much concerned by the lack of results from ZEC, and we suspect that the regime is at a loss as to how to respond to the results.which are showing the MDC winning in most parts of the country. We suspect that this is a prima facie case of constitutional assault."
And superstitious observers have noted one other fact. The official, complete and final result of the election is not expected until Tuesday. And Tuesday is the first of April. All Fools Day.
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