Mugabe Loses Control of Parliament

President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party has lost control of parliament, according to results released Wednesday by Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission.

The news came as the main opposition party in Zimbabwe said its leader had won the presidential elections, an assertion the country's information minister disregarded as an attempt to wreak "mayhem and panic."

Despite claims that there will be a runoff to determine the impoverished African nation's next leader -- including a report in Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper -- the Movement for Democratic Change says Morgan Tsvangirai won the election flat out.

There will be no runoff, MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti said, calling for longtime President Robert Mugabe to step down. Mugabe, who was prime minister before taking the presidential post in 1987, has been in power since Zimbabwe's independence 28 years ago.

"President Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has won this election, not in respect of the gross vote, but in attaining the majority required," Biti said.

The opposition's numbers don't entirely add up, but then again, Mugabe's had a way of padding numbers as well, so take anything coming from his direction with a grain of salt. However, that the Electoral Commission notes that Mugabe lost control in the Parliament is telling as to just how badly he did in the election nationwide. I'd wonder whether he was using that as a sop to remain in power just a bit longer.

UPDATE:
The state run paper in Zimbabwe claims that there will be a runoff election, which is the first sign that Mugabe's supporters realize that they haven't won the election.