Montag
03-31-2008, 11:41 AM
Desperate Mugabe refusing to give in
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/desperate-mugabe-refusing-to-give-in/2008/03/31/1206850811658.html
excerpt:
ROBERT MUGABE was desperately clinging to power last night, despite his looming defeat in Zimbabwe's presidential election, by blocking the electoral commission from releasing results and threatening to treat an opposition claim of victory as a coup.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said unofficial tallies showed its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had 60 per cent of the presidential vote, double Mr Mugabe, with more than half the results counted.
Mr Mugabe had even lost in his home territory of Mashonaland as well as other former strongholds.
The ruling ZANU-PF also appears to have had losses in the simultaneous parliamentary election, with at least nine members of its politburo losing their seats, including the Vice-President, Joyce Mujuru, and the Defence, Information and Education ministers.
The MDC and ZANU-PF were level pegging, according to the first results issued by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday.
It said each party had won 12 parliamentary constituencies out of a total of 210 seats and the Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, had lost his seat. The MDC said its tally showed it had won 96 parliamentary constituencies out of 128 counted.
Riot police were on the street in the capital, Harare, overnight on Sunday and the state-run Herald newspaper accused the MDC of "preparing its supporters to engage in violence by pre-empting results, claiming they had won".
Australia held grave concerns that the election was not free and fair, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said, despite the Southern African Development Community declaring the vote was "ultimately a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people".
Mr Mugabe, 84, faced the biggest test of his 28-year-rule in the election because of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and a two-pronged opposition attack that put him under unprecedented political pressure.
His other challenger for the presidency, the former ZANU-PF party official Simba Makoni, won about 9 per cent of the vote.
The MDC said that what it regards as Mr Tsvangirai's overwhelming win is "under threat" despite growing support from foreign monitors for its claim of victory. Mr Tsvangirai made no public appearances, apparently out of concern for his safety.
Mr Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, warned Mr Tsvangirai not to declare himself president because that "is called a coup d'etat and we all know how coups are handled".
Sources close to the MDC said its leadership had put out feelers to the military and elements of the ZANU-PF to try to arrange a peaceful transfer of power.
The MDC's secretary-general, Tendai Biti, said the party was increasingly alarmed at the refusal of the electoral commission to issue any results. The commission has previously issued results as soon as they are posted at polling booths, and collated them by constituency for release within hours of the vote.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/desperate-mugabe-refusing-to-give-in/2008/03/31/1206850811658.html
excerpt:
ROBERT MUGABE was desperately clinging to power last night, despite his looming defeat in Zimbabwe's presidential election, by blocking the electoral commission from releasing results and threatening to treat an opposition claim of victory as a coup.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said unofficial tallies showed its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had 60 per cent of the presidential vote, double Mr Mugabe, with more than half the results counted.
Mr Mugabe had even lost in his home territory of Mashonaland as well as other former strongholds.
The ruling ZANU-PF also appears to have had losses in the simultaneous parliamentary election, with at least nine members of its politburo losing their seats, including the Vice-President, Joyce Mujuru, and the Defence, Information and Education ministers.
The MDC and ZANU-PF were level pegging, according to the first results issued by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday.
It said each party had won 12 parliamentary constituencies out of a total of 210 seats and the Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, had lost his seat. The MDC said its tally showed it had won 96 parliamentary constituencies out of 128 counted.
Riot police were on the street in the capital, Harare, overnight on Sunday and the state-run Herald newspaper accused the MDC of "preparing its supporters to engage in violence by pre-empting results, claiming they had won".
Australia held grave concerns that the election was not free and fair, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said, despite the Southern African Development Community declaring the vote was "ultimately a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people".
Mr Mugabe, 84, faced the biggest test of his 28-year-rule in the election because of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and a two-pronged opposition attack that put him under unprecedented political pressure.
His other challenger for the presidency, the former ZANU-PF party official Simba Makoni, won about 9 per cent of the vote.
The MDC said that what it regards as Mr Tsvangirai's overwhelming win is "under threat" despite growing support from foreign monitors for its claim of victory. Mr Tsvangirai made no public appearances, apparently out of concern for his safety.
Mr Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, warned Mr Tsvangirai not to declare himself president because that "is called a coup d'etat and we all know how coups are handled".
Sources close to the MDC said its leadership had put out feelers to the military and elements of the ZANU-PF to try to arrange a peaceful transfer of power.
The MDC's secretary-general, Tendai Biti, said the party was increasingly alarmed at the refusal of the electoral commission to issue any results. The commission has previously issued results as soon as they are posted at polling booths, and collated them by constituency for release within hours of the vote.