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Zim vote recount 'tactical'
27/04/2008 20:45 - (SA)
Harare - A disputed recount in Zimbabwe's elections that was widely expected to overturn an opposition victory in parliament was in fact aimed at securing the presidency through violence, political analysts say.
Many observers were surprised when officials on Saturday conceded that President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party had lost control of parliament for the first time in 28 years, ever since independence from Britain.
But the political analysts on Sunday said the partial recount demanded by Zanu-PF after the March 29 parliamentary elections was in fact aimed at staving off a second round in the presidential vote to secure a Mugabe victory.
Parliamentary, presidential and local elections were held on the same day, but the result of the presidential election has never been made public, with officials saying that no candidate had won outright.
Presidential outcome
"It is clear that the recount was a tactical retreat meant to re-organise, re-strategise and galvanise diminishing support through violence," Takura Zhangazha, a Harare-based political commentator, told AFP.
The Zimbabwean African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party "is now more concerned about the presidential outcome than the parliamentary results," Zhangazha said.
"In the event of a run-off, the strategy is to ensure that there is limited access to some rural areas through violence."
Lovemore Madhuku, a lawyer and constitutional activist, agreed, saying: "It's actually showing the desperation of Zanu-PF. They wanted to buy time."
Mugabe, 84, who has ruled uninterruptedly since 1980, has presided over a dramatic economic collapse of a country which how has the world's highest inflation rate, officially put at 165 :000%.
Ballots in 23 of the country's 210 constituencies have been under the microscope over the past week after allegations by Zanu-PF of vote fraud by the opposition. The recount was expected to be complete by Monday.
Results so far show that the ruling party has lost control of parliament - an outcome that officials said reflected how transparent Zimbabwe's electoral system was and contradicted critics.
Electoral officials were to due meet representatives of the main presidential candidates - Mugabe and opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai - on Monday to discuss the results of the presidential vote.
Since the recount began, opposition and human rights groups have reported an upsurge in politically-motivated violence allegedly perpetrated by pro-Mugabe militias and the military against opposition supporters.
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