Ruling Party Leads in Zimbabwe's Elections

While results from Zimbabwe's July 31 national elections are only scheduled to be officially announced after Aug. 4, several sources have already confirmed a convincing win by incumbent President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party. More importantly, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change is being beaten back and has allegedly even failed to win the votes from urban areas of the capital Harare, which was the opposition's electoral stronghold in previous elections. The result of these elections, which are to eventually set the stage for a stable transition to a post-Mugabe era and potential economic recovery, are already being heavily criticized due to visible attempts by supporters of the ruling party to influence the elections through irregularities.