MDC says No to run-off poll

The opposition dismisses any prospectof a run-off poll - but Tsvangirai will go to Lusaka

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change has re-stated its belief that it has gained overall victory in the Presidential election, and will not therefore take part in any run-off vote.

MDC Secretary General, Tendai Biti, speaking in South Africa, said the party had done even better than originally thought. He described Robert Mugabe as a "caretaker president", and added: "So we are therefore concerned that an illegitimate government in now in place in Zimbabwe."

Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, who was in Botswana yesterday as part of his campaign to win support from neighbouring nations, has said he will attend the emergency meeting of the 14-member SADC group in Lusaka, Zambia, tomorrow. Mugabe is also expected to attend.

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe itself two sinister developments have occurred, which observers believe are part of the ruling Zanu-PF party's campaign to remain in power.

The party has extended the number of constituencies where it is demanding recounts from 16 to 21. Sources within the the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Mugabe's secret police, confirm that a plan is in place to make sure these recounts result in wins for Zanu-PF.

Some officials of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) have already been detained by police, and more arrests are expected. A CIO source told me: "They will be forced to say that they bribed everyone at their polling stations, to get them to remove genuine votes for Mugabe from the ballot boxes, and substitute fake votes for Tsvangirai."

Stacks of Mugabe votes will then be "discovered", and used as evidence that the MDC have been guilty of fraud.

My source tells me that in fact the Mugabe vote papers were marked some time before the election, by soldiers and CIO agents at Thornhill Airbase, in Gweru< and in Harare. But mis-timing, and strict surveillance by MDC officials, made their use impossible on election day. Now that can be corrected.

The second developmen which worries observers is the fate of the ZEC itself. The electoral body, which is in possession of the presidential ballot papers, was moved late on Tuesday from its Rainbow Towers office in Harare to an unknown destination.

Officials from both the MDC and from the independent presidential candidate Simba Makoni have been denied access to the Commission, which is rumoured to have been relocated in army premises somewhere in Harare.

ZEC chairman General George Chiweshe is not answering his mobile phone, and neither are any of his team.

Comments

[DC]

This may look like brinkmanship on the part of the MDC, but I think instead of wasting time in the courts they should have said this sooner - 1 week after the election.
All the facts say now that EVEN IF THE RESULTS ARE RELEASED TODAY, the figures are irrelevant.
How can you trust any result now? HOW? The ballot boxes have been in ZANU-PF control for two weeks nearly and any recount/verification is impossible.
Agreeing to a run-off would legitimise the vote-counting fraud.
The problem now is how SADC (who said the elections were free and fair even before any results came in) will save face for themselves and Mugabe. Without a run-off the only option is some kind of coalition government.
But that raises the question, why should Tsvangirai have to negotiate when he has won (there can be no argument about this now)? And why should Mugabe be rewarded for his fraud by continuing to remain in power - even if as a non-executive president in the coalition government?
What is happening in Kenya shows that such 'deals' do not work. Let the winners be sworn in!
That would be the position of a courageous SADC.

[Majays]

A COMPLETE WASTE OF PEOPLE's EFFORTS OF Removing the tyranny. I don't even trust the SADC myself any more.

[Frank Michener]

A message to MDC. Do not hold your breath!
In a run off, you have two chances, no chance and a dogs chance. The only way for Mugabe to
win is by absolute fraud and intimidation. We all know that. In a run off The MDC would probably get 23%. Mugabe gets the balance. To take over the Government, you will need not votes but 10 - 20 divisions of British and American troops!
Mugabe and all his surrouding cronies will cry foul. It is a hard world Morgan.

[T.K]

The only way to resolve this problem - Request help from the "Keepers of Democracy &
Human rights" - MDC should do it and awaken the conscious of the American people and ask them to eject Mugabe by force.

[RMacleod]

It is probably unlikely that any benefit to the MDC will arise from the forthcoming SADC meeting as many of the members will have either poltical or a fraternal bond with Mugabe.

[RMacleod]

There is a ancient saying "Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first send mad".
I think it can be rightly assumed this has happened to Mugabe in the last few days. His fellow criminals Constantine Chiwenga,Perence Shiri,Paradzai Zimondi,Augustine Chihuri,Happyton Bonyongwe and Philip Sibanda have taken over and are now awaiting the end.All very similar to Hitler's last days.