Mugabe's party expects to fight runoff

The leadership of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party began meeting on Friday to decide whether President Robert Mugabe should contest a runoff vote against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, a party source said.

Mugabe convened his politburo after the party lost control of parliament for the first time in 28 years.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says it won the presidential vote but official results have still not been released six days after the election.

Earlier a ZANU-PF official said Mugabe, facing a fight for political survival after the worst election setback of his long rule, would contest the runoff.

Referring to the politburo meeting, a senior party member told Reuters: "I have no doubt the resolution will be in favour of a run-off, I have no doubt about that. "We cannot just hand it to Morgan (Tsvangirai) on a silver platter. We will fight for it and we will win."

ZANU-PF and independent projections indicate that although Tsvangirai has won, he failed to get the absolute majority needed to avoid a runoff.

The opposition says its tallies show Tsvangirai won an absolute majority and should be declared president immediately, ending Mugabe's uninterrupted rule since independence in 1980.

Mugabe faces deep discontent as Zimbabwe suffers the world's highest inflation rate of more than 100,000 percent, a virtually worthless currency and severe food and fuel shortages.

Senate results, which must precede the presidential outcome, only began trickling out on Thursday night, fuelling suspicions that Mugabe is trying to buy time to stave off defeat.

A runoff should be held on April 19, three weeks after the elections, but some MDC sources allege Mugabe plans to extend that to 90 days to give him time to regroup.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters: "I am not aware of such a plan but no matter how much they may want to buy time or beat up people or employ other dirty tricks, the people of Zimbabwe have already made a choice by voting for a candidate (Tsvangirai) that will take the country forward."

Analysts believe Mugabe would try to ensure victory in the second vote by using militias and powerful security forces to cow MDC supporters.

Riot police patrols were out in central Harare today and two foreign journalists were arrested last night for reporting the elections without accreditation.