May 2 (Reuters) - Below is reaction to the result of Zimbabwe's presidential election, in which the electoral commission said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe but not by enough to avoid a run-off. SPOKESPERSON FOR BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE "Election results released five weeks after polling day lack credibility but it is clear that at least 60 percent of the population voted for change in Zimbabwe. President Mugabe's campaign of violence and intimidation coupled with the arrest of 99 electoral commission officials in the last month shows exactly how ZANU-PF will approach any second round. Without an immediate end to violence and the introduction of a wider range of international monitors and in much greater numbers than were present for the first, no second round could be free and fair." TOM CASEY, SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT "It's pretty hard to see how there can be a meaningful run-off in Zimbabwe when the government has done everything it could to both delay and obscure the results." "It is a little difficult, I think, for people to take that issue (a run-off) seriously when the government of Zimbabwe is busy harassing, repressing, arresting and abusing members of the opposition" "It's very hard to see how you have a run-off election and a campaign that meets any kind of international standard under these kinds of circumstances." RICHARD SEGAL, AFRICA STRATGEGIST, RENAISSANCE CAPITAL "It is the sort of news that would ultimately encourage investors. There are still a lot of funds that are showing interest but the problem particularly since the election is a lack of liquidity. Investors had got to thinking that the results would never be released but the feeling is this is a step forward. I don't think it's in anyone's interest not to have a peaceful resolution. Investors hope they are seeing the beginning of the end but they know that might take weeks or months." NELSON CHAMISA, SPOKESMAN FOR ZIMBABWE OPPOSITION MDC "This whole thing is a scandal, scandalous daylight robbery and everyone knows that. We won this election outright, and yet what we are being given here as the outcome are some fudged figures meant to save Mugabe and ZANU-PF." (Reporting by Reuters reporters in Harare, London, Washington)
Zimbabwe's Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) President Lovemore Matombo gestures during the Labour Day celebrations as his union body called on the government to reduce income taxes amongst other demands at ...
