"The MDC views this is as a wanton act of aggression by Zanu-PF aimed at covering up the massive electoral fraud by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) orchestrated at the behest and connivance of Zanu PF," the party said.
For a start, the state-sponsored violence, in which more than 100 of Mr Tsvangirai's people have been murdered and thousands beaten and tortured, must stop; thousands more must be freed from prison; and scores of bogus charges against newly elected members of parliament, MDC officials, and the leader of an MDC splinter party must be dropped.
"Unless the MDC acts, and acts decisively, now," he warned, "Zanu-PF will rule for ever and the MDC will fade into oblivion.
Results so far paint the electoral map Zanu-PF green, with only a few pockets of MDC red.Whatever the degree of any rigging, some believe Tsvangirai was a weak leader who let the MDC become tarnished by corruption and made careless choices in his search for a wife.
Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, won with 61% of the presidential vote, trouncing MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on 34%.
Police trucks with mounted water cannon watch over "freedom square", the name given to an open field in downtown Harare by MDC supporters who held what was described as the country's biggest ever election rally there.
MDC members have been murdered, tortured and jailed during a long struggle and the prize now seems further away than ever.
As Zanu-PF supporters celebrated the national election commission announcement, Tsvangirai and other MDC leaders held a press conference that was attended by the British and other western ambassadors.
Petina Gappah, a writer and political commentator, admitted being among the sceptics who had written the MDC off at the start of the year.
"The MDC finds it strange that the police and Zanu-PF are using such intimidatory tactics when Zanu-PF is claiming that it won last week's elections.
Zanu-PF gained more than a two-thirds majority in parliament, with 160 seats compared with 49 for the MDC.
