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...word: "Cheat." These are ominous signs for the despot who has ruled Zimbabwe for 28 years. But there are other, more urgent ones emerging elsewhere in the capital. The slow drip-feed of official results from the March 29 general election had shown, by Wednesday, that Mugabe's Zanu-PF party had lost its parliamentary majority as the opposition tally reached 105 of the 210 seats in parliament, compared with 94 for the ruling party. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, staffed by Mugabe loyalists, has not released the presidential results, although the state-run Herald newspaper acknowledged that Mugabe had failed...
Officially, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has thus far released results for 131 out of the parliament's 210 seats. According to that preliminary count, Mugabe's Zanu-PF won 64 seats, while the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a total of 67. But five of those opposition seats went to a splinter faction that has broken off from the MDC and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's main rival...
...country - an estimated 2 to 3 million have left - are unhappy with the direction of the economy. Mugabe blames a Western conspiracy for that, and says the M.D.C. is a Western stooge. But the signs are that increasingly few are listening. Mugabe's own party, the Zanu-PF, has begun to splinter underneath him - his other main challenger is Simba Makoni, a former finance minister. And the unfettered and peaceful campaigning that the M.D.C. and Makoni have enjoyed in the past few weeks has raised doubts about whether Mugabe still commands the loyalty of the security forces, who have violently...
...find Makoni campaigning in their midst. The local chief, Fortune Charumbira, a member of the president's inner circle, had instructed his headmen to ensure no opposition parties campaigned in the area; he was ignored. Makoni campaigned and travelled without hindrance, and he's not alone. Scores of Zanu-PF members are, with apparent impunity, running for parliament as independents, against official candidates. "There is a turnout all over the country of opposition supporters, cheering against Mugabe," says Eldred Masunungure, a professor of political science at the University of Zimbabwe. "They would never have dared...
...this has prompted speculation that this poll may mark the beginning of the end for Mugabe, even if he gains the expected victory. "Clearly there is evidence of an implosion inside the Zanu-PF and the regime," says Masunungure. Chris Maroleng of the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria says Mugabe's potential successors within the ruling party will "make their moves based on the outcome - a narrow win could be the cue for action from several quarters...