Harare: Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai declined today to declare himself the winner of a presidential election, saying he would wait until an announcement from the electoral commission.
"I am prepared to wait until as long as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)confirms the results," Tsvangirai told a news conference in his first public appearance since March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections. However Tsvangirai said he and his party had been given a clear mandate for change in the poll.
"After the 29th of March, Zimbabwe will never be the same again. In those minutes inside the polling booths each one rewrote the history of Zimbabwe," he said. "The vote we passed on March 29 was a vote for change, for a new beginning." Tsvangirai's party has already said it is confident that he won the poll but the electoral commission, whose leadership is appointed by President Robert Mugabe, has yet to release any results from the presidential contest.
