Zimbabwe's opposition has accused the country's election commission of deliberately delaying results of this week's election to favour the ruling party.
MDC Alliance Spokesperson Tendai Biti speaks during a press conference. Photo: AFP
Even though the election passed off peacefully, water cannon trucks patrolled outside the central Harare headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday as its red-shirted supporters danced in the streets.
Some local results from parallel parliamentary elections have been declared but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has yet to produce any figures from Monday's presidential vote.
ZEC chief Priscilla Chigumba said the presidential result may not be ready until Saturday.
Former MDC finance minister Tendai Biti and ZESN, the main domestic election monitor, said one in five polling stations - more than 2,000 in all - had not physically posted tallies on their doors, as required by law.
That gave room for the ZEC, which ZESN and the opposition have accused of bias, to manipulate the results in favour of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU-PF party, Mr Biti said.
"There is a deliberate delay in formally announcing results," Mr Biti told a news conference, characterising it as "interference with the people's will".
ZESN and other civil society groups were preparing a legal challenge to force the results into the open, Mr Biti said.
ZEC said there was no rigging or cheating in the vote, whose credibility is vital in Zimbabwe's attempts to emerge from the pariah status and economic decay into which it sank in the latter half of ex-President Robert Mugabe's nearly four decades in charge.
However, ZEC did not explain the failure by the polling stations to post results.
The poll is a two-horse race between 75-year-old Mr Mnangagwa, a long-serving security chief who took over after Mr Mugabe's removal, and 40-year-old MDC leader Nelson Chamisa.
Both men have expressed confidence in victory although western diplomats and local observer groups said the race, which saw a turnout of 75 per cent, was too close to call.
"The information from our representatives on the ground is extremely positive!" Mr Mnangagwa said on his official Twitter feed.
Chamisa had earlier said he was poised for victory, writing on Twitter: "Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people's election results and we are ready to form the next government."
As well as electing a president, Zimbabweans were voting for 210 members of parliament and more than 9,000 councillors.
The final outcome may not be known until August 4. In the absence of a clear winner, a run-off will be held on September 8.
Should Mr Mnangagwa lose, many Zimbabweans fear some in the ruling party may not accept the result, particularly given the huge risks some senior cadres and army officers took in removing Mr Mugabe.
Some of the organisers of the coup are now in government, including Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF have said they will accept the result, but after a string of questionable elections under Mugabe, many Zimbabweans remained sceptical.
"If this guy loses there is no way they will hand over power," said Gift Machekera, pointing at a huge banner of Mnangagwa hanging on a building in Harare. "Those who have the guns have the power. This is Africa."
Several civil society groups are collating results from 10,985 polling posts in parallel with ZEC but are not allowed to release results early. A source at one group said it was too early to call a winner but it was looking "very close".
Mr Mnangagwa was viewed as the frontrunner, although the latest opinion polls showed a tight race. There will be a run-off on September 8 if no candidate wins more than half the votes.
A credible vote is essential if Zimbabwe is to exit painful sanctions and secure the donor funding and investment needed to stem chronic cash shortages.
- Reuters
