MISNA
Zimbabwe
06.27.00
The ruling Zanu Party of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won the parliamentary elections, obtaining 62 seats. As well as 30 MPs to be appointed by the President, for which the Zanu will have 92 seats out of 150. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) obtained 57 seats, while the remaining seat out of the 120 went to a small opposition formation, the Zanu-Donga. It is however important to underline that Mugabe's party did not obtain a majority two-thirds of the seats, necessary to modify the Constitution without approval from the opposition. The result is certainly positive for the MDC, diminished merely by the defeat of the unionist Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the party founded just nine months ago with the explicit backing of the white minority and international support. The only comfort for the MDC after its leader's bitter defeat would be the election of white's such as David Coltart, the party's legal adviser and that of land-owner Roy Bennett. Given the smoothness of the entire voting process and the unexpectedly high turnout to the polls (around 65% of the 5-million registered voters), all the fears of irregularities and unrest, amplified over the last few days by the press, appear to be unfounded. In the exiting Parliament the Zanu had 147 seats of the 150. It is in fact the first time, despite the figures, that the Parliament of Harare hosts a real opposition force.