Ruling ZANU-PF supporters react following the victory of one of their candidates, as a man holds up an anti-opposition banner in the capital Harare yesterday. - AP

HARARE (AP):

The opposition claimed a wide lead Monday in Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary balloting, but official results were released piecemeal, heightening fears a regime accused of ruining the economy and undermining democracy planned to hold on to power through rigging.

One of Robert Mugabe's Cabinet ministers lost his seat in a district seen as a ruling party stronghold, one of 66 races for which Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission released results yesterday. The official tally gave 30 seats to Mugabe's party and 36 to the opposition, including five seats for a breakaway faction.

Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change began announcing its own tally a day earlier and claimed its results yesterday, based on counts posted at polling stations in 128 of the country's 210 parliamentary districts that showed it was leading in the presidential elections with 60 per cent of the votes compared to 30 per cent for Mugabe.

The rest of the presidential votes went to former ruling party loyalist and Finance Minister Simba Makoni, whose campaign as an independent brought splits within the ruling party over Mugabe's rule into the open.

Toughest challenge

The elections have presented Mugabe, 84, with the toughest challenge ever to his 28-year rule. The voting was generally peaceful after a campaign that focused on the destroyed economy, with inflation soaring beyond 100,500 per cent.

The Movement for Democratic Change also said the opposition won 96 seats in the House of Assembly. Parliamentary and local council balloting was held alongside the presidential vote last Saturday.