PrintApril 5, 2008
Mugabe Hangs On
Despite claims by the opposition MDC party that they have won an outright victory over Robert Mugabe with no need for a runoff, the tyrant continues to make preparations for a do-over where he will almost certainly be able to rig the vote and come out a winner:
"The result is known, that the MDC (the opposition Movement for Democratic Change) won the presidential and parliamentary election. President Mugabe and ZANU-PF (the ruling party) should accept the results," Tsvangirai said in his first declaration that he had won at the first attempt.The electoral commission is either made up of 5 year olds who can't count past 10 or they are cheating their behinds off:
"The MDC won the election and will not accept the suppression of the will of the people,'' he said. Mr Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe's party on Saturday of preparing a war against the people of Zimbabwe.
Six days after Zimbabwe voted, there was still no definitive answer to who won. Zimbabwe’s electoral commission has yet to release the result of the presidential vote, though Mr. Mugabe’s party has lost its majority in the lower house of Parliament for the first time since the country’s independence from white rule in 1980.A spokesman for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party quashed rumors that had been floated yesterday that Mugabe would resign if he could be guaranteed not to be prosecuted. Instead, it appears that the only president the people of ZImbabwe have ever had will participate in a run off election:
The ruling party was also trailing the opposition in the contest for the 60-seat Senate, by 20 to 23 seats, according to results released Friday. The slowness to announce a presidential victor has led to deep suspicions of vote tampering and international criticism.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said it would go to court to try to force the government to release the results, news agencies reported.
From its own tally of vote totals posted at each polling station, the opposition says that Mr. Tsvangirai eked out a bare majority. But while an independent projection of results by local democracy advocates put Mr. Tsvangirai well ahead of Mr. Mugabe, it was not by enough to avoid a second round of voting.It appears that the more Mugabe digs in his heels, the more likely bloodshed will erupt as the people demand his ouster.
Didymus Mutasa, the governing party’s secretary for administration, told journalists after an all-day party meeting that there was a consensus that Mr. Mugabe should run in a second round of voting. “Mugabe, our dear old man, remains our candidate,” Mr. Mutasa was quoted as saying in The Herald. “We shall take him and carry him along with us.”
