By DPA,
Harare/Lusaka : Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will take its claim of victory in last month’s election over President Robert Mugabe to the UN Security Council this week, the party said Sunday.
MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti will lead a delegation to New York, where he will tell a Security Council session on Zimbabwe’s post-election standoff that the party is not prepared to partake in a presidential runoff, an MDC statement said.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai insists that he won the March 29 election outright, a claim that Zanu-PF rejects, saying neither he nor Mugabe won a majority and that a runoff is required.
Official results have not yet been released in the presidential election, but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it would begin verifying and collating results from a partial recount of the votes Monday, sparking fresh hopes that the outcome might shortly be known.
Bolstered by confirmation of its historic victory over Mugabe’s party in the parliamentary elections, the MDC said Sunday it would tell the UN Security Council that it would not participate in a presidential runoff, “whatever the circumstances and conditions”.
The party has touted an “inclusive” transitional government led by Tsvangirai.
A partial recount of some seats in the parliamentary election showed the MDC retaining its majority over Zanu-PF, which was relegated to a minority party for the first time since coming to power at independence in 1980.
The MDC won 109 seats in the 210-seat House of Assembly in the first count of votes, against 97 for Zanu-PF.