Zimbabwe's ruling party wins majority in Parliament

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party has won majority seats in Parliament after sweeping rural constituencies by huge margins, according to the results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on Wednesday.

Out of the 153 National Assembly seat results, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front won 110 and was performing strongly in rural constituencies, its traditional stronghold, ZBC state media reported.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance was coming a distant second with 41 seats, winning mostly in urban areas where it gained massive support. There are 210 seats in the bicameral Parliament.

However, the parliamentary outcome does not necessarily indicate voters' choice of President. The result in the presidential vote -- being contested by incumbant President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change -- is due by August 4 but expected sooner, according to the Guardian.

Zimbabweans voted on Monday to elect a President and a new Parliament in the first election since long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe was ousted. The polls attracted a high turnout of 70 per cent.

On Tuesday, the MDC Alliance said that vote had been rigged and that its candidate Chamisa had won. Overseas election monitoring teams were due to issue their reports on the parliamentary and presidential polls later on Wednesday.

--IANS

soni/mr