Senate split, run-off possible
2008-04-05 19:14
Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition leader accused President Robert Mugabe Saturday of preparing a "war against the people," with violence the most likely tool in any election run-off.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told a news conference his party was reluctant to take part in a second round of presidential elections because of the mounting climate of fear - although he stopped short of threatening a boycott.
"Zanu-PF is preparing a war against the people," Tsvangirai said. "In the run-off, violence will be the weapon. It is therefore unfair and unreasonable for President Mugabe to call a run-off."
He reiterated his claim that a run-off was unnecessary because he had won last Saturday's presidential election outright. His party claims he won 50.3% of the vote, but the official election commission has still not released the results.
Opposition officials said the party would launch a new court effort on Sunday to force the commission to publish the results. Armed police prevented lawyers from entering the court Saturday.
Tsvangirai said the clampdown came as Mugabe was mobilising armed militias and war veterans.
Feared veterans of the guerrilla war, who were used in the past to beat up opponents, held an intimidating march on Friday. Opposition party offices were raided and armed police in full riot gear arrested foreign journalists.
Senate split
The ruling Zanu-PF party announced on Friday it was endorsing Mugabe, whose 28-year rule led Zimbabwe from liberation to ruin, to contest a run-off election despite humiliating electoral losses.
Official results for the parliamentary elections showed the ruling party lost its majority in the 210-seat parliament for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980. Final results for the largely ceremonial 60 member senate gave the ruling party and the opposition 30 seats each.
Independent projections show Tsvangirai won the most votes - but not the 50% plus one needed for an outright victory. So far, there has been consensus that the results have not been rigged.
There is mounting international pressure on Zimbabwe to announce the presidential results. But South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was last year appointed mediator in Zimbabwe, urged patience.
"It's time to wait," Mbeki told journalists as he arrived for a meeting near London of government leaders hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "Let's see the outcome of the election results," said Mbeki, who advocates quiet diplomacy rather than public criticism.
Tsvangirai said the violence and intimidation would likely worsen and appealed to African leaders and the United Nations to intervene to "prevent chaos and dislocation."
Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga dismissed the comments.
"It's a lot of nonsense. Zimbabwe held a very peaceful election. There was no violence. Nobody was killed," he told Sky Television.
Detentions
A number of foreign journalists detained by police - including the New York Times' Barry Bearak - remained in custody on Saturday. Lawyers said they were blocked from submitting an application for the journalists' release by police.
Matonga said the government claimed to have fresh charges against Bearak and another foreign reporter, after the attorney general ruled that there was no case against them.
However, Beatrice Mtetwa, a lawyer representing the journalists, said the charges appeared the same as those initially levied - representing themselves as accredited journalists and reporting on the election without accreditation.
An employee of US-based National Democratic Institute who was detained on Thursday as he tried to leave the country has been released from jail on the condition that he report to the authorities in the next few days for further scrutiny, Mtetwa said. Two South Africans also remain in custody on charges of reporting illegally, she said.
The government had rejected most foreign journalists' applications to cover the elections and had barred Western election observers.
The law requires a run-off within 21 days of the first round of elections. But diplomats in Harare and at the United Nations said Mugabe was planning to declare a 90-day delay to give security forces time to clamp down.
Z$50m note
Mugabe, 84, has ruled since his guerrilla army helped create an independent Zimbabwe in 1980. But his popularity has been battered by an economic slide that followed the often-violent seizures of white-owned commercial farms since 2000 that has rendered this former food-exporting nation dependent on international handouts. A third of the population have fled the country and 80% is jobless.
With inflation raging at more than 100 000%, authorities introduced a new bank note denominated at Z$50m on Friday. It's worth $1 on the widely used black market and buys just three loaves of bread.
"Mugabe must accept that the country needs to move forward. He cannot hold the country to ransom. He is the problem not the solution," Tsvangirai said.
But he also held out an olive branch, saying he would welcome dialogue with Mugabe. He said his party would not exact revenge on Mugabe for any crimes committed during his rule.
"Please rest your mind, the new Zimbabwe will guarantee your safety," he said.
He also urged Zimbabweans not to be cowed by fear.
"At this difficult moment, there comes a time when citizens take their destiny in their own hands and say 'No."' A time when we put aside fear and rise to the moment. They have spoken with one voice against the dictatorship," he said.
"The result is known. The MDC has won parliament and the presidency."
- AP