Zimbabwe braces for close election as early parliamentary results come in

Early parliamentary results in Zimbabwe showed the ruling party and the main opposition neck and neck on Friday, after an election in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF party was widely expected to maintain its 43-year grip on power.

extended into ThursdayMnangagwa, 80, is seeking re-election at a time when the southern African country is grappling with soaring inflation and high unemployment, with many Zimbabweans reliant on dollar remittances from relatives abroad to make ends meet.Zimbabwe's chances of resolving a debt crisis and obtaining World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans are at stake, as foreign lenders have said a free and fair vote is a pre-condition for any meaningful talks.

Police sealed off roads around the election results centre on Friday morning, and members of the public were being stopped for questioning, a Reuters reporter in the capital Harare said. However, results announced so far by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed ZANU-PF winning 38 parliamentary constituencies and the main opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change winning 32, out of a total of 210 single-member constituencies.

In the highest-profile loss yet for the ruling party, the electoral commission said on Friday that Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube had lost his parliamentary contest to a CCC challenger.ZANU-PF's Chinamasa said the party was "on target" to achieve 60-65% for President Mnangagwa, and dismissed Chamisa's claim that he was leading in the polls as "day-dreaming".

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