Zimbabwe Recount Confirms Win in Parliament for Opposition MDC
By VOA News 26-April-2008
Chairman of the Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission George Chiweshe addresses press conference in Harare, 26 Apr 2008
Zimbabwe's main opposition party says its parliamentary victory over President Robert Mugabe's ruling party is intact after a recount of the March 29th vote.
A spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (Nelson Chamisa) says results of the recount show the MDC retained its majority over Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF.
Zimbabwe's electoral commission confirms that there were no changes in the 18 out of 23 constituencies recounted so far. The remaining seats are not enough for the ruling party to win a majority.
Election officials say a recount of votes in the presidential election also held March 29th should be complete by Monday. But they say they do not know when the results will be published.
The MDC says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, defeated Mr. Mugabe and won the presidency outright.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the international community must take action following Friday's roundup of hundreds of opposition supporters in Harare.
Mr. Brown said on Saturday he intends to call for intensified action on Zimbabwe following a UN Security Council meeting during the coming week.
Police in Zimbabwe's capital raided MDC headquarters Friday and detained at least 215 opposition supporters. Authorities say were targeting people involved in violence following the disputed elections.
The opposition many of those arrested were injured refugees fleeing from political violence triggered by ruling party loyalists.
Washington Barta
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