CHRONOLOGY: Crisis over Zimbabwe's elections

Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:35am EDT
 
[-] Text [+]

(Reuters) - Here is a chronology of the main developments since Zimbabwe's presidential, parliamentary and local elections took place on March 29.

March 30 - Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims victory in presidential and parliamentary elections based on early results.

April 2 - Parliamentary election results show President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF has lost its majority for the first time since independence in 1980.

May 2 - Electoral body says MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai won most votes in the presidential election, but not enough to avoid a run-off against Mugabe. Opposition rejects the result.

May 24 - Tsvangirai returns to Zimbabwe to contest the run-off after several weeks abroad, even though he says first round results were rigged to deny him outright victory.

June 4 - Police detain Tsvangirai for more than eight hours while he was campaigning for the run-off. He is eventually held five times.

June 22 - Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of the run-off because attacks by Mugabe's supporters have killed 90 of his followers, making a fair election impossible.

June 23 - U.N. Security Council unanimously declares a free and fair presidential election run-off impossible.

June 25 - Zimbabwe's neighbors in the Southern African Development Community call for the vote to be postponed.

June 27 - Zimbabwe goes ahead with the run-off vote. Witnesses say some people are forced to vote for Mugabe.

June 29 - Mugabe is declared the winner with over 85 percent and is sworn in for a new term. Observers from the Pan-African parliament say the vote was flawed and should be re-run.

June 30 - Mugabe comes under pressure at an African Union summit in Egypt to negotiate with the opposition. African Union observers also say the election did not meet their standards.

 

Featured Broker sponsored link

Editor's Choice

A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours.  Slideshow 

Most Popular on Reuters

  • Articles
  • Video