Supporters of Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance party cheer as they gather at the party's headquarters in Harare, July 31, 2018. (Photo: VCG)

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has won over 50 percent of seats in parliament, according to the country's electoral commission on Wednesday.

The official results showed President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF won the parliamentary election with 109 seats against 41 for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Another 58 seats are still to be announced.

The House of Assembly of Parliament has 210 seats and ZANU-PF would need to win 30 more to have a two-thirds majority that would allow it to change the constitution at will.

Voters pick a presidential candidate based on their party affiliation and the trend in the parliamentary election was expected to continue when results for the president are announced this week.

Just one day before the results, the opposition accused the electoral commission of deliberately delaying results in ZANU-PF's favor.

On Tuesday, senior MDC official Tendai Biti said party leader Nelson Chamisa had won the presidential race and alleged that the authorities were delaying the publication of results.

Outright criticism over the result

Zimbabwe's election commission said it now expected to start announcing presidential election results from Thursday because there were allegations of disputes around tallies that were posted outside polling stations.

Opposition supporters burned tires in the center of the capital Harare, blocking some streets and engaging in running battles with police who fired water cannon to disperse the protesters.

The main opposition and ZESN, the main domestic election monitor, said on Tuesday that one in five polling stations – more than 2,000 in all – had not physically posted tallies on their doors, as required by law.

"It depends with whether those who disagree with something would like to use legal remedies but sometime tomorrow we should be able to advise you what time we can, if any, start announcing the presidential election results," election commission chair
Priscilla Chigumba told reporters.

The leader of the opposition MDC, Nelson Chamisa, said on Twitter he had won the "popular vote" in Monday's election, in which he challenged Mnangagwa from the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Mnangagwa also took to Twitter, calling for calm and urging patience before the results were announced.