HARARE, ZIMBABWE — President Robert Mugabe and his ruling party were defeated in presidential and parliamentary elections, according to the opposition and independent observers, but there was deafening silence Sunday from the Zimbabwe Election Commission, which released almost no results.
Tension was high here in the capital, as large numbers of riot police patrolled deserted streets after dark. There were also reports of riot police in the crowded urban townships.
Fear grew that the count was being rigged as the delay in announcing results wore on. The first official results are usually released within hours of the polls closing.
Mugabe, 84, faced the strongest challenge in his 28 years of power from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change; and a ruling party defector, Simba Makoni. Unconfirmed reports said a swath of key ministers and Mugabe loyalists had lost their seats in parliament.
"The wave of change was too strong," said one shocked politician who lost office, a member of the ruling ZANU-PF party who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said conditions in the ruling party were extremely tense.
Tsvangirai's party maintained that he won 67% of the vote in 150 of the 210 constituencies. The figures were based on final tallies posted at individual polling stations after being signed off by electoral officials, the first time these counts have been posted.
The posting of final tallies at polling stations makes fraud easier to detect and follows recent reforms to election law after pressure from a regional body, the Southern African Development Community.
The opposition MDC's secretary-general, Tendai Biti, said the final support figure for Tsvangirai was expected to decline to about 55% as figures from Mugabe's rural strongholds in Mashonaland province came in.
In a briefing to diplomats, independent election observers put the result at 55% for Tsvangirai, 36% for Mugabe and 9% for Makoni, with 66% of votes counted.
George Chiweshe, head of the Election Commission, said official results would be issued starting at 6 a.m. today.
"It's an involving and laborious process. It takes time for the results to filter through," he said, explaining the delay. He added that only commission results were legitimate.
When the first returns were announced, they included only six parliamentary seats, split 3-3 between ZANU-PF and the opposition.
