(dpa) - Official results from Saturday's elections were trickling in at a snail's pace in Zimbabwe, where authoritarian President Robert Mugabe is facing an unprecedented challenge to his 28-year hold on power.
After a more than day-long delay the Zimbabwe Election Commission began Monday slowly releasing the results of the combined presidential, assembly, senate and local elections, in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has already unilaterally claimed victory.
More than three hours into the results announcement at the National Collation Centre in the capital Harare the winners of only only six of 210 assembly seats had been confirmed.
Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC took three each. Well-known Bulawayo businessman Eddie Cross was one of the successful candidates on the MDC side.
Turnout in the election was given at between 40 and 45 per cent, a figure that may not be as low as it appears given allegations that the 5.9-million-strong voters' roll was inflated with "ghost voters" and some of the millions of Zimbabweans who have fled abroad in recent years.
The delay in the release of the results has caused consternation in Zimbabwe. The opposition has accused the state of deliberately stalling in order to manipulate the result.
The MDC rushed to claim victory after partial unofficial results showed the party sweeping Harare and the second city Bulawayo as well as some rural areas previously considered ruling party strongholds.
Government spokesman George Charamba called the MDC's unilateral victory claim a coup d'etat, adding in remarks carried in Zimbabwe's Sunday Mail "we all know how coups are handled."
The streets of Harare and Bulawayo were calm on Monday with many people glued to the election results. Riot police were seen on the streets of Harare Sunday night but there was no sign yet of a security crackdown.
The elections, which were largely peaceful, were seen a vote mainly on the economic chaos wrought by Mugabe's populist policies, which have resulted in six-figure inflation and widespread food, fuel and drug shortages.
An observer team from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community, while citing a number of concerns, said the elections were "peaceful" and "credible."
"But they (the government) still might steal it," MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti warned.
Mugabe, who declared himself confident of another five years to add to his 28 years in power, has vowed to respect the wishes of Zimbabweans but also said recently the MDC would "never" govern.