Zimbabwe poll was 'free, honest and credible' - African Union
The Zimbabwe Election Commission is due to publish the results of this week's voting by Monday
Zimbabwe's
presidential and parliamentary elections were "free, honest and
credible", the African Union observer mission's head has said.
Olusegun Obasanjo said the incidents reported during Wednesday's poll could not "change the outcome".The largest observer group said earlier the poll was "seriously compromised".
President Robert Mugabe's party is claiming victory in the election, which was rejected as a "huge farce" by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
On Wednesday, voters were choosing a president, 210 lawmakers and local councillors. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has five days to declare who won the poll.
First official results from national assembly elections show that Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party is taking an early lead. However, the seats announced were mostly in Mr Mugabe's rural strongholds, correspondents say.
Zanu-PF spokesman Rugaro Gumbo predicted that Mr Mugabe - who is running for a seventh term - would get at least 70% of the vote in the presidential poll.
"We are expecting a landslide victory," he was quoted as saying in Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper.
Zanu-PF and Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have shared an uneasy coalition government since 2009 under a deal brokered to end the deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.
'Not verifiable' Speaking in the capital Harare on Friday, Mr Obasanjo said the elections were fair and free "from the campaigning point of view".
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- 67.94% of urban voters registered
- more than 750,000 urban voters missing compared to rural voters
- 38% of rural polling stations turned away many potential voters
- poll "seriously compromised" by effort to disenfranchise about one million voters
Source: Zimbabwe Election Support Network
ZESN election findings
- Pre-election roll in June:
- 67.94% of urban voters registered
- more than 750,000 urban voters missing compared to rural voters
- Election day:
- 38% of rural polling stations turned away many potential voters
- poll "seriously compromised" by effort to disenfranchise about one million voters
Source: Zimbabwe Election Support Network
The former Nigerian president
admitted that there were "incidents that could have been avoided", but
he stressed that the AU observers did not believe they could change the
overall outcome of the poll.
His assessment sharply contrasted to that by the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network (ZESN) - the largest group of domestic
monitors. It said on Thursday that the elections were "seriously compromised", with as many as a million people being unable to cast their ballots.
The ZESN said potential voters were much more likely to be turned away from polling stations in urban areas, where support for Mr Tsvangirai is strong, than in President Mugabe's rural strongholds.
The group also alleged significant registration irregularities before the poll.
But speaking to al-Jazeera, Mr Obasanjo questioned ZESN's conclusions, describing them as "not verifiable".
He said he was satisfied that the apparent anomalies between registration between urban and rural voters mentioned by ZESN had been explained by the registrar-general, who had the accurate figures for birth and death.
Mr Obasanjo also said that Mr Tsvangirai's camp should have addressed concerns about the electoral roll before the vote - not after.
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Legal challenges
Zimbabwe election: Key facts
- About 6.4 million registered voters
- Vote for president and parliament
- Zanu-PF's Robert Mugabe and MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai are the main presidential contenders
- Mr Mugabe, 89, is seeking to extend his 33-year rule
- Mr Tsvangirai, 61, hopes to become president after three failed attempts
- The poll ends the fractious coalition between Zanu-PF and MDC, which was brokered by regional mediators after disputed elections in 2008 that were marred by violence
- First election under new constitution
On Thursday, Mr Tsvangirai said the elections were "null and void".
"Our conclusion is that this has been a huge farce. The
credibility of this election has been marred by administrative and legal
violations which affected the legitimacy of its outcome."It's a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people."
Another observer mission - the Southern African Development Community - is expected to give its verdict on the elections later on Friday.
It is illegal to publish unofficial election results in Zimbabwe. Police have warned they would take action against anyone trying to leak early results.
Extra units - some in riot gear - have now been deployed in Harare.
Under the electoral law, if no presidential candidate gains 50% of the ballots, a run-off will be held on 11 September.
Legal challenges are now likely to follow, the BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg reports.
But much will depend on whether Zimbabwe's neighbours endorse the poll, our correspondent adds.
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