Zimbabwe elections: PM brands polls as "huge farce" as observer group says they were "seriously compromised"

The President and Prime Minister are going
head to head in the elections. 

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed the country's national elections as a "huge farce" and said they were "null and void" after the party of 89-year old current President Robert Mugabe claimed victory. His comments came as the largest observer group monitoring the elections, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said the polls were "seriously compromised" with up-to a million people prevented from voting. The organization said that most of those who were turned away from polling stations were in urban areas - where support for Prime Minister Tsvangirai is stronger - and fewer people were rejected in rural areas; where there is more support for President Mugabe. In a statement, the group said that potential voters were turned away from 82% of urban polling stations. Mr Tsvangirai branded the elections a "huge farce", as Mr Mugabe's allies claimed a victory: "We've buried the MDC [the Prime Minister's party]. We never had any doubt we would win" , one un-named senior party official told Reuters News agency. It is illegal for un-official results to be published, and police have vowed to crack down on any early leaks.