Results a boost for Zanu-PF

MDC supporters have been celebrating in the streets of Harare, claiming victory even before the official announcement of results. Photo / AP

Zimbabwe's ruling party has won a majority of seats in Parliament, the electoral commission announced last night, as the country braced for the first official results of the presidential election.

The ruling Zanu-PF won 109 seats while the main opposition MDC party had 41 in the country's 210-seat House of Assembly. The commission said 58 seats had yet to be declared.

The commission said it would announce the results of Zimbabwe's presidential race, pitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, only after all the votes had come in from across the country.

Western and other election observers were poised last night to give their first public assessments of the election and whether it was free and fair.

The opposition alleges the elections have irregularities, saying voting results were not posted outside one-fifth of polling stations as required by law.

Mnangagwa's Government, meanwhile, accused Chamisa and his supporters of inciting "violence" by already declaring he had won Monday's election, the first after former leader Robert Mugabe stepped down in November under military pressure.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Photo / AP

"Let me also warn such individuals and groups that no one is above the law," Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu said. Security forces "will remain on high alert and continue to monitor the security situation ".

Zimbabweans desperately hope the peaceful vote will lift them out of economic and political stagnation after decades of Mugabe's rule, but the country is haunted by a history of electoral violence and manipulation that means trust is scarce, despite today's freer environment.

Zimbabwe opposition challenger Nelson Chamisa. Photo / AP

While the electoral commission has five days from the end of voting to release the final tally, the national mood is growing anxious partly because unofficial results are already swirling on social media.

Dozens of opposition supporters gathered yesterday morning at their headquarters in the capital, Harare, celebrating in the belief that they had won the presidential election based on results they said they collected from agents in the field.

As they danced to music blasting from speakers set up on a truck, police with water cannon circulated in the area.