HARARE, March 12: Norway’s observer mission said on Tuesday Zimbabwe’s presidential elections failed to meet acceptable international standards.

The mission blamed President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party for “the vast majority” of violent incidents before the March 9-11 elections. Vote counting began on Tuesday.

“The observer mission concludes that the presidential elections failed to meet key, broadly accepted criteria for elections,” Kare Vollan, the head of the 25-strong Norwegian mission, told reporters in Harare.

He said the elections “were conducted in an environment of strong polarisation, political violence and an election administration with severe shortcomings”.

The Norwegians were the largest European observer group in Zimbabwe after the European Union withdrew its team because Mugabe had excluded some EU member states.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe’s government of rigging the elections but has told his followers to remain calm. The first results are expected on Wednesday.

“Even though incidents have been reported from both sides, the evidence shows clearly that in the vast majority of cases the ruling party has been to blame,” Vollan said.

He gave a catalogue of irregularities and abuses, and also criticised the electoral authorities for barring tens of thousands of people from voting, especially in Harare and nearby Chitungwiza.—Reuters