ZIMBABWE: Early results in Zimbabwe's explosive presidential contest trickled out last night as local and international observers deemed the poll "severely flawed" and the government laid treason charges against a top opposition official.
Swelling anger over apparent vote-rigging saw Zimbabweans bracing themselves for possible violence when the final result is announced some time today.
With just 5 per cent of the vote counted, President Robert Mugabe led the opposition challenger, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, by about 53 per cent to 45 per cent last night. However Norwegian and local observer groups confirmed fears that the poll was riddled with irregularities designed to swing the vote in favour of Mr Mugabe.
Three different reports detailed abuses including state-sponsored violence, manipulation of voter rolls, deliberate reduction of polling in urban areas and intimidation of opposition polling agents.
Amnesty International said that 1,400 people, most of them opposition polling agents and independent observers, had been arbitrarily imprisoned since voting started last Saturday. "There is no way these elections could be described as substantially free and fair," said Mr Reginald Matchaba-Hove of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a coalition of 38 civic and church organisations.
Kare Vollan of the 25-strong Norwegian observer mission said the vote was "severely flawed" and blamed President Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party for "the vast majority" of the violence.
The government took a different view. The Information Minister, Mr Jonathan Moyo, described the vote as "exemplary" while state media predicted a landslide victory for Mr Mugabe.
Earlier, the secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Mr Welshman Ncube, was charged in a Harare court with plotting to assassinate Mr Mugabe, then released on bail.
Analysts warned the court action could herald a similar move against Mr Tsvangirai, who also stands accused of high treason.
A Mugabe win could unleash a severe opposition crackdown, said Mr Brian Raphtopoulos, associate professor at the Institute of Development Studies. "He will drag them through a tortured legal process that will debilitate the leadership," he said."
There were fears that thousands of township voters who were prevented from voting after the government slashed the number of voting stations, would react violently to news of a Mugabe victory. "Nobody is as dangerous as a hungry person," said queuing voter Mr Lloyd Mashayamombe in Chitungwiza last Sunday.
The Police Commissioner warned on state radio that the election losers must "accept gracefully, otherwise the law will visit them again". There were unconfirmed reports of riot police attacks on Chitungwiza residents last night.
Rich, mostly white, families had left Zimbabwe, mostly for Capetown and Durban in neighbouring South Africa. Some car dealerships in Harare had moved their shop window stock into secure suburban warehouses. In a city centre car showroom, the only vehicle behind the plate glass belonged to the sales manager.
The state media meanwhile continued its attacks on the country's white minority. An editorial in the government Herald newspaper accused white farmers of enticing black voters with "$700 and a burger".
The Commercial Farmers Union said 12 white farmers from Banket district were charged with attempting to corrupt polling officers by offering them food, operating an illegal radio network and "conspiracy to influence the electoral process".