Zimbabwe’s opposition faced a difficult decision on Friday night over whether to contest a presidential run-off after the long-delayed official election results were finally released. They confirmed that President Robert Mugabe had been defeated but apparently not by a sufficient margin to avoid a second round.

More than a month after the polls closed, the state-appointed Zimbabwe electoral commission said Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, had won 47.9 per cent of the vote, with Mr Mugabe trailing on 43.2 per cent.