Mugabe likely to win up to 75 per cent of vote: party

HARARE: President Robert Mugabe is likely to win up to 75 per cent of Zimbabwe's presidential vote over his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, his party said Friday. “It's the prediction that the president might likely get 70 to 75 per cent,” ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told AFP, saying early results showed a strong lead for the 89-year-old veteran. Official results from Wednesday's presidential election have not yet been released, but Gumbo said tallies posted at some polling stations had showed a landslide for Mugabe. “It's the feel. From what I see what is happening on the ground,” he said. With about a third of the national assembly results released, Gumbo was also confident the party would achieve a two-thirds majority in the 210-seat house. “We can't get less than 130, 140 seats. I'm sure will get there. I think we are going to get about two-thirds majority.”The first official results showed Mugabe's party storming ahead, winning 52 of the 62 seats announced. Tsvangirai, who is making his third bid to end 89-year-old Mugabe's 33-year rule, has slammed the vote as a “huge farce”.