OREANDA-NEWS. July 3, 2008. A presidential run-off took place on June 27 in Zimbabwe, resulting in the victory of the leader of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the incumbent head of the state, Robert Mugabe. According to Electoral Commission data, 91.3% of the voters who took part in the election voted for him. On June 29 Mugabe was sworn in as head of state.

The other presidential candidate, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the race a few days before the election (although local law requires this to be done at least 20 days in advance), accusing the government of unwillingness to provide the right conditions for holding a democratic and fair election. In this connection the opposition does not recognize the election results.

The African Union summit in Egypt, which concluded its work on July 1, adopted a resolution on Zimbabwe urging the authorities and opposition to resume a political dialogue and form a national unity government in the interests of the people of that country and reconfirmed the mandate of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for mediation efforts.

Moscow is closely watching developments in Zimbabwe and supports the steps being undertaken by the African community to settle the political crisis in that state.