Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe face a runoff vote as neither will get a majority in the presidential election, state-owned newspaper The Herald reported on Wednesday.

The Herald said Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the ruling ZANU-PF were tied in the parliamentary elections.

Tsvangirai said on Tuesday night The MDC was on the verge of taking power. He dismissed speculation that the opposition would negotiate a managed exit for Mugabe.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 but faced an unprecedented challenge in Saturday's elections because of a two-pronged opposition attack and the economic collapse of his once prosperous country, which has reduced much of the population to misery.

There are fears both inside and outside Zimbabwe that the three-week hiatus before a runoff vote would spark serious violence between security forces and militia loyal to Mugabe on one side and MDC supporters on the other.