THE much-awaited results of the presidential election are expected to be released this week -- exactly a month later -- the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced yesterday. The announcement appeared to be in response to the expressed impatience of Sadc, which gave yesterday as a deadline for ZEC to release the results -- or the credibility of the poll would be in tatters.Addressing a press conference, ZEC chairman, Justice George Chiweshe, said the process of feeding the recounted statistics into the system had already started. "We trust that by Monday 28 April this process will have been concluded," he said. "Immediately thereafter, the returning officer (Chief Elections Officer) will invite the four Presidential candidates or their agents to a verification and collation exercise, leading to the announcement of the results of the Presidential election."
He said observers would be invited to the process, which was in terms of an agreement between the chief elections officer and the four presidential candidates. Each party would tally the figures it collected from the 9 000 polling stations. If there were no discrepancies and they all agree on the figures the result could be released soon thereafter.
Chiweshe said much of the recounting in the 23 constituencies had been completed and that only five constituencies remained. "These five are also on the verge of completion," he said. Of the 10 constituencies recounted up to Friday there had been no significant changes to the initial results: MDC-Morgan Tsvangirai, 99 House of Assembly; Zanu PF, 97; MDC-Arthur Mutambara 10; Independent one. In the Senate, Zanu PF 30; MDC-MT 24; MDC Mutambara six.
Ambassador Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, head of the South African observer mission, said their assessment of the recounting exercise was that it had not impacted on the initial results announced soon after the elections.
Chiweshe spent a greater part of the press conference explaining the delays in announcing the presidential election results. He said, they had to check 36 000 V11 forms nationally and there were delays in receiving returns from Matabeleland, which were eventually airlifted to Harare via Bulawayo. He said court action brought against the commission had contributed to the delay by two weeks. "However, we were to a large extent during that period unable to inform the electorate as to what progress we were making as doing so would have entailed discussion of issues still pending before the courts."
It might have been a coincidence, but yesterday's press conference came as Sadc warned it would not accept more excuses from the ZEC if it failed to release the results of the presidential elections by yesterday. The announcement yesterday would appear designed to respond to SADC's concerns and impatience.
Sadc sent its observer team back to Harare last week to observe the recount of 23 disputed constituencies. Sadc had said beyond Saturday it would not accept claims that the release of results had been affected by logistical difficulties.
Another warning for Mugabe was in the Mail & Guardian's report that President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, the AU chairperson, had said privately he would be willing to explore the option of convening an AU summit on Zimbabwe's delayed presidential poll.