¡¡  HARARE, April 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwe's defeated opposition on Monday demanded a fresh poll be held under a different constitution, saying it was needed to cut the influence of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party over electoral process.

    Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change(MDC), said last Thursday's parliamentary poll -- which gives Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) landslide victory, were a "sham" because all electoral institutions were controlled by Mugabe's party.

    In Thursday's elections, ZANU-PF won 78 seats in the elections,while the MDC just garnered 41 seats, a sharp decrease from its gains in last parliamentary election.

    "There should be a new election because this election has proved to be a sham. But the MDC is talking of a fresh election under a new constitutional dispensation and not a mere repeat under the same environment," said Tsvangirai's spokesman William Bango.

    "We seek a political solution here," he said, adding that Tsvangirai had given that message to diplomats on Sunday.

    Zimbabwe's parliament, also called House of Assembly, has 150 members: 120 elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and 12 appointed members by president, eight governors and 10 elected chiefs.

    The MDC has alleged irregularities in the election ranging fromvoters being turned away from polling stations to thousands of extra votes cast in battle ground constituencies.

    But African observers, including those from Southern African Development Community and South Africa, has endorsed the elections,saying that the poll were "credible" and "reflected the will of Zimbabweans."

    Zimbabwe held its sixth parliamentary election on Thursday. Though five political parties contested the poll, it is largely seen as a two-horse race between ZANU-PF and the MDC.

    ZANU-PF has been ruling party since Zimbabwe attained politicalindependence on April 18, 1980 from former colonial ruler Britain.However, in last parliamentary elections held in 2000, the party only got a feeble majority with 62 seats, while its main rival, the MDC, a party launched one year before the elections, won 57 seats. Enditem