By IRNA,
Pretoria : The first results from the recount of disputed parliamentary seats in Zimbabwe have confirmed the opposition’s control of the assembly.
The recount of 23 contested seats should be completed on Monday, paving the way for the release of results from the presidential election.
But the results from 18 of the seats has already confirmed the initial results, according to state media in Zimbabwe.
Even if the opposition lost the last five, it would still hold the majority in parliament for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980.
Original results of the elections held on March 29 showed that opposition groups won 110 seats to President Robert Mugabe’s party’s 97.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is believed to have won the presidential election, though not with enough votes to avoid a run-off.
But no results from the presidential poll have been released and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change accused Mugabe of engineering a delay – and a campaign of intimidation and violence – in a bid to hold onto power.
Election officials said they hoped to compile all statistics from the presidential election for verification by the candidates before they are published.
The UN high commissioner for human rights also voiced concern about an “emerging pattern of political violence” directed at opposition supporters, election monitors and human rights activists.