A polling agent holds voting papers during a recount on April 19 at the Domboshava Training Center, 35 km northwest of Harare.

President Robert Mugabe’s party won in the first of 23 constituencies to complete a recount of votes from last month’s general elections, AFP quoted Zimbabwe’s state media as saying on Wednesday.
Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) was confirmed as the winner of both the election for a seat in parliament and the largely symbolic senate in the Goromonzi West constituency, a rural district near the capital, “The Herald“ newspaper reported.
While recounts in 21 of the constituencies were ordered in seats won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change following complaints of irregularities by ZANU-PF, Goromozi West was one of only two districts to hold a recount in a seat won by Mugabe’s party.
The MDC was initially declared to have taken 109 seats against 97 for ZANU-PF in the 210-seat chamber, but Mugabe’s party will regain its majority if it can reverse the results in seven or more of the seats under review.
The recount also covers votes cast in a simultaneous presidential election in which Mugabe is seeking a sixth term in office. None of the results from the presidential election have so far been announced.
Mediation
Meanwhile, a pro ruling party academic said on Wednesday that regional countries should mediate negotiations in Zimbabwe for a transitional government of national unity led by President Robert Mugabe to organize new elections, Reuters said.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe’s ZANU-PF were locked in an election stalemate over delayed parliamentary results and a possible presidential runoff that has raised fears of widespread violence.
The opinion piece on The Herald’s website said political tensions make it impossible to hold a run-off, which the MDC rejects.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he won the election outright and accused Mugabe of seeking a run-off to rig victory in the biggest challenge to his 28-year rule.
According to Reuters, Tsvangirai has appealed to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and foreign powers to intervene to guarantee a democratic poll result and prevent widespread violence.

Regional Impatience
There are signs of growing regional impatience with Mugabe from neighbors who have refused to take a hard line with the former liberation hero despite an economic crisis that has brought millions of Zimbabweans to their knees.
Maritime southern African states refused to allow a Chinese ship carrying arms to landlocked Zimbabwe to unload, in unprecedented action towards Mugabe by long-passive neighbors, including traditional allies.
The action indicated a tougher response by the region, which has been criticized, particularly by the United States, for not doing more to end a three-week delay in issuing results from a presidential election on March 29.
The opinion piece in The Herald, seen as a barometer of the official mood, said that a transitional government should seek the help of the SADC and the international community to write a new constitution adopted after a national referendum.
“It stands to reason that, the transitional government of national unity, negotiated by the two leading contending parties, under the mediation of SADC, supported by the international community, should be led by the incumbent president,“ academic Obediah Mukura Mazombwe said.
The MDC deprived Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party of its majority in parliament in a parallel vote on March 29 but there has also been a delay to a partial recount of votes from that poll.

Hillary Rodham Clinton staved off elimination in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, defeating Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary and reviving her hopes of becoming the United States’ first female president.
The former first lady was winning 55 percent of the vote Tuesday to 45 percent for her rival with 90 percent of the vote counted, AP said.
She hoped for significant inroads into Obama’s overall lead in the competition for delegates who will choose the party’s nominee at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Her victory, while comfortable, set up another critical test in two weeks in Indiana. North Carolina votes the same night, with Obama already the clear favorite in a state with a large black population. Clinton scored her victory by winning the support of working-class voters, women and whites in an election where the economy was the dominant concern. More than 80 percent of voters surveyed as they left their polling places said the United States was already in a recession.

The “last work“ on securing North Korea’s declaration of its nuclear activities is underway and six-nation negotiations could resume next month, AFP quoted South Korea’s foreign minister as saying on Wednesday.
Yu Myung-Hwan was speaking a day after a team of US experts met the North’s top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-Gwan in Pyongyang to discuss the declaration.
The group is led by Sung Kim, director of Korean Affairs office at the State Department. It is due to return Thursday to South Korea after crossing the heavily fortified border.
“North Korea’s nuclear declaration has been long delayed but the US team is conducting the last work in Pyongyang,“ the minister said in a speech. “If work is done as scheduled, I expect six-party talks to be held again within May so that the momentum can be maintained.“
Yu later told YTN TV news, “We don’t have much time left. I hope that progress will be made as early as possible in order for the six-party talks to maintain momentum.“

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, meeting eaders of the European Union, called on Wednesday for cooperation to weather a global economic slowdown and fight the spread of nuclear weapons.
According to AFP, Fukuda held an annual summit with the European Union, meeting with Prime Minister Janez Jansa of Slovenia, the 27-nation bloc’s current president, before being joined by European Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
“I hope Japan and the EU will further strengthen their strategic partnership for the sake of peace in the international community,“ Fukuda said at the beginning of the meeting with Jansa.
A Japanese government official earlier said that Fukuda would talk with EU leaders about climate change, which is set to be a major topic at the G8 summit.
Fukuda and the Europeans are also expected to discuss assistance to Africa as Japan will host its fourth summit of African leaders in May--the so-called Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

Maoists Seeking Gov’t Allies