Zimbabwe election result: Zanu-PF win majority of seats in parliament, electoral commission says

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party has won the majority of seats in parliament, the electoral commission has announced.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's party is on course for a big majority after picking up 109 seats against 41 for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Another 58 seats are yet to be declared.

Zanu-PF would need an additional 30 seats to have a two-thirds majority, which would allow it to change the constitution at will.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday accused the electoral commission of delaying results to favour the ruling party, although leader Nelson Chamisa's maintained his party was "winning resoundingly".

This week's election, Zimbabwe's first without Robert Mugabe on the ballot for nearly four decades, was generally peaceful, despite fears of violence.

However, events took an uneasy turn last night when the MDC alleged that results were not posted outside the one-fifth of polling stations mandated by law.

Dozens of opposition supporters even gathered at their headquarters in the capital, Harare, celebrating in the belief that they had won the presidential election based on results they said they collected from agents in the field. As they danced to music blasting from speakers set up on a truck, police with water cannon circulated in the area.

Current leader Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former deputy president who fell out with Robert Mugabe and then took over from him, has said his showing in the presidential polls was "extremely positive" while urging people to wait for official results.

Several water cannon trucks patrolled outside the central Harare headquarters of the MDC on Tuesday night as its red-shirted supporters danced in the streets.