Elections’ inconclusive outcomes

This week Zimbabwe’s official electoral commission delayed the publication of results of a presidential election for five days after the poll. Zimbabwe and its worldwide audience were left hanging. Zimbabwe’s stalemate is a vivid reminder of recent troubles in Kenya. In both cases there was a vote but the new government that should follow, as night follows day, was somewhat slow in emerging. And in Kenya at least, when it finally did emerge, it was the outcome not of a simple election but of all the complexity of tribal violence, internationally sponsored power-sharing talks and constitutional amendments.