Mass fraud in poll - Tsvangirai
2005-04-01 16:39
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday dismissed the previous day's elections as "massive fraud" and accused President Robert Mugabe of treating his country like "his private property".
"This (is) disgusting massive fraud," the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told AFP in an interview as partial results showed that Mugabe's Zanu-PF party was closing in on his party's early lead.
While the MDC won victory in key cities, the rural vote was expected to be decisive in the opposition's bid to unseat Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front, which has held a 25-year monopoly on power.
Tsvangirai said Mugabe "is going to do what he wants" to win a two-thirds majority for his party in parliament that would allow him to change the constitution.
"This is his private property and for people to even claim that this is a democratic process, when it is so fraudulent, is totally not acceptable," said Tsvangirai.
"For people to even claim that this is a democratic process, when it is so fraudulent, is totally not acceptable," said Tsvangirai.
"These elections cannot be accepted by anyone in their right mind," he said.
In London, British foreign secretary Jack Straw also criticised the elections as "seriously flawed" and charged that Mugabe had "yet again denied ordinary Zimbabweans a free and fair opportunity to vote, further prolonging the political and economic crisis he has inflicted on their country".
Tsvangirai claimed there were discrepancies in several constituencies between the number of people who cast ballots and the results announced by the Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC).
Charade
He cited as an example the constituency of Manyame close to Harare, where Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao won over the incumbent MDC lawmaker, saying there was a difference of 10 000 votes between the number of voters and the results announced.
Mugabe's refusal to allow Western observers to monitor the vote, to release the voters' roll early to allow for scrutiny and to create an independent elections commission were "part of the whole charade", he said.
Tsvangirai also repeated earlier claims that food was used to buy votes, especially in the impoverished and drought-hit rural areas.
"One of the things that has been used effectively by Zanu-PF is the threat of food.
"Given the general drought situation, that may have acted certainly on the people's mentality. It appears that some people may have voted out of fear of being denied food," he said.
The opposition leader said his party would not challenge the election results in court.
"We are not going to take any legal action this time, what is the use of going to court, the other legal challenges have not been dealt with," he said, referring to the 37 cases that were launched after the 2000 elections.
- AFP