The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in Zimbabwe has seriously challenged 20 years of one-party rule in Zimbabwe by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, it emerged from election results early this morning. But Mr Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Unity was assured of a majority.
The MDC had 48 of the 120 elected seats in results early today while the Zanu-PF had 51 seats. However the MDC has been seriously weakened by the failure of its leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, to win a seat.
One seat was held by an independent and 20 were yet to be announced.
President Mugabe is not due for re-election until 2002.
The bulk of the MDC seats were taken in the cities of Harare and Bulawayo and in the southern province of Matabeleland, where government troops brutally repressed political opposition in the mid-1980s, killing thousands of civilians.
As expected Zanu-PF won most of its support in the rural areas where pre-election violence has left at least 32 people dead.
Zanu-PF leaders "seemed to sanction the use of violence and intimidation against political opponents" according to an interim statement issued by the head of the EU observer mission, Mr Pierre Schori, on Sunday night.
MDC hopes of winning a majority in the 150-seat parliament receded last night as most of the unannounced seats were in rural areas. Zanu-PF needed only 46 seats to form a majority as President Mugabe controls the appointment of 30 MPs.
The Mugabe government, which has been in power since independence in 1980, appeared to be staggering the release of the results last night.
The government wanted to deploy security forces around the country before the morning, according to Mr Nick Ndebele of the human rights group, Zimrights. "They are afraid the MDC supporters will celebrate through revenge," he said.
Police commissioner Augustine Chiruri made a statement before results were released asking the winners to "win gracefully and not target the losers for whatever reasons". The police would "ensure the people are forced to accept the outcome", he said.
Security was increased around State House, with heavily armed police manning several barricades on approach roads.
There were several prominent victories and defeat among the early results. The MDC secretary general, Mr Welshman Ncube, won 87 per cent of the vote in the second city, Bulawayo. The war veterans' leader, Mr Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi, also won his seat.
The Home Affairs Minister, Mr Dumiso Dabengwa, and the Minister for Justice, Mr Emerson Mnangagwa, lost their seats, as did the Zanu-PF candidate, Mr Stalin Mau-Mau, who polled just 4,400 votes in his Harare constituency. The MDC candidate took 18,100 votes.
At least three million Zimbabweans voted, 50 per cent more than in the last election five years ago and the highest turnout since 1980.