Harare, Zimbabwe ? Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called Saturday on President Robert Mugabe to step down and accused the country’s longtime ruler of plotting a campaign of violence to bolster his chances of winning an expected runoff.

The state-run Sunday Mail newspaper said Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party had requested a recount of the March 29 presidential election because of “errors and miscalculations in the compilation of the poll result.” The party also asked the Electoral Commission to defer the announcement of the presidential election results because of the “anomalies,” the paper reported in its online edition.

Amid increasing signs of a government crackdown, armed police barred opposition officials Saturday from filing a suit demanding the publication of the results from the presidential vote. The opposition promised to try again Sunday.

“Mugabe must accept that the country needs to move forward. He cannot hold the country to ransom. He is the problem, not the solution,” said Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Tsvangirai accused ZANU-PF of “preparing a war against the people” and said a runoff was unnecessary because he had won the presidential election outright.