By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government hopes to announcethe result of a one-candidate presidential election on Sundayand swear in President Robert Mugabe for a new term extendinghis unbroken 28 years in power.
Electoral officials said late on Saturday the final resultof the widely condemned vote on Friday had been delayed bywaiting for final tallies from some rural constituencies.
"Tonight we cannot give the results. I don't want to give atime-frame, but I hope it will be tomorrow," Utoile Silaigwana,the deputy chief elections officer for the Zimbabwe ElectoralCommission, told Reuters.
Earlier government sources said they expected the84-year-old president to be sworn in on Sunday in time toattend an African Union summit in Egypt on Monday, where hesays he will confront critics of his decision to go ahead withthe vote.
The election was widely condemned around the world afteropposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew a week ago, sayingalmost 90 of his supporters had been killed ingovernment-backed violence.
The government sources said tallies from two-thirds ofpolling stations showed Mugabe, 84, defeating Tsvangirai by ahuge margin.
Tsvangirai's name remained on ballot papers after electoralauthorities refused to accept his decision to withdraw lastSunday. He has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy since then.
"The tallies are indicating that despite the wishes of ourdetractors and the propaganda of our enemies, the voter turnoutwas very big and that we are going to see a landslide victory,"said one government source, who declined to be identified.
"SHAM"
President George W. Bush called the vote a sham and saidWashington would impose new sanctions on an illegitimategovernment. He said he would call on the U.N. to impose an armsembargo on Zimbabwe and a travel ban on its officials.
The European Union said in a statement that Zimbabweanscould not vote freely and so "the election lost all legitimacyas well as the administration that has resulted from it".
But foreign ministers preparing for the AU summit indicatedit would not support Western calls for sanctions. Africancountries are believed to have more sway with Mugabe thanforeign powers.
Mugabe has presided over one-prosperous Zimbabwe's descentinto economic chaos with hyper-inflation estimated to have hitat least 2 million percent, food and fuel shortages.
Witnesses and monitors on Friday reported people did not goto the polls in many areas.
They added that people in some places had been forced tovote for the president. Tsvangirai said millions of peoplestayed away from polling stations despite systematicintimidation.
The opposition leader and his Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC) won presidential and parliamentary elections onMarch 29 but fell short of the majority needed for outrightvictory.
In contrast to the expected declaration of Friday's resultwithin 48 hours, the outcome of the March 29 presidential polltook five weeks to emerge. Human rights lawyers say that delaymade Friday's run-off unconstitutional.
Many Western leaders urged the AU to take action, sayingZimbabwe's turmoil threatened regional security. The MDC saidit would lobby the summit leaders.
"The summit has to take a firm position on the transitionwe seek. It's now a matter of peace and security. We hope thematter gets the urgent attention it deserves. We should notwait for rivers of blood and the complete breakdown of order,"MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
But ministers attending a meeting to prepare the summitshied away from proposals for stronger international sanctionsagainst Mugabe, saying they were unlikely to work and apower-sharing deal should be encouraged.
AU mediation helped form a power-sharing government inKenya earlier this year, ending a crisis in which 1,500 died.
"I think we need to engage Zimbabwe. The route of sanctionsmay not be the helpful one," Kenyan Foreign Minister MosesWetangula told reporters at the summit venue.
Tsvangirai said earlier this week he would not negotiatewith Mugabe if he went ahead with the election.
The MDC's Chamisa criticised South African President ThaboMbeki, whose quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe as the designatedregional mediator has failed to end the crisis. He is widelyaccused of being too soft on Mugabe.
"President Mbeki has become part of the problem. ... Idon't know why he is trying to resurrect a regime that wasrejected by the people," Chamisa said.
Gordon Brown, prime minister of former colonial powerBritain, said Zimbabwe had reached a new low. "We will workwith international partners to find a way to close thissickening chapter that has cost so many lives," he said.
Mugabe blames Western sanctions for economic collapse andthe opposition for political violence.
(Additional reporting by Nelson Banya and MacDonaldDzirutwe in Harare, Marius Bosch and Paul Simao inJohannesburg, Daniel Wallis and Cynthia Johnston in Sharm elSheikh and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; writing by BarryMoody; editing by Andrew Roche)
