Agence France-Presse
Harare, 1 August
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s allies today declared that the veteran leader had romped to an election victory, a claim rejected by his rival who branded the vote a “sham”.
A top member of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party said that Mr Mugabe had trounced Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change in Wednesday’s presidential and parliamentary elections. “We have romped (to victory) in a very emphatic manner,” said the party member who asked not to be named. “We have won all of them, including the presidential and parliamentary.”
But the claim was swiftly slapped down by Mr Tsvangirai, bidding for a third time to end 89-year-old Mr Mugabe’s 33-year rule of the troubled southern African country. “It’s a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people,” he said, pointing to a litany of alleged irregularities.  “In our view this election is null and void,” he added. “This election has been a huge farce.”
“The shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis.” The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the count has been completed and results are now being collated from the first vote since bloody polls in 2008 led to an uneasy power-sharing deal between Tsvangirai and Mugabe.
Tsvangirai stopped short of claiming victory himself, a move that could have enflamed tensions in a country where political violence is common.  The vote itself passed off peacefully, but in a sign of simmering tensions around 20 riot police were deployed near the headquarters of Tsvangirai’s MDC party, a reporter witnessed.
Foreign diplomats and independent Zimbabwean election observers also expressed grave misgivings about the conduct of the poll.
“Up to a million voters were disenfranchised,” said Solomon Zwana the chairman of Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which has 7,000 observers. “The election is seriously compromised.”The Catholic Church ~ which has 3,000 people on the ground ~ said it was premature to call a winner but there was a “strong feeling” across the country that Mr Mugabe would lose.  “If certain people feel their choice was not accepted they may resort to violence. That potential is still there,” a church spokesman said.