As the world's longest election drags on, fantastic rumours continue to sweep across the country
Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday April 1, 6.0 pm
With results still only trickling out of the ZEC, the rumour machine has been working overtime in Zimbabwe. With scarcely any facts to go on, imaginations are running riot. Here are three of the best rumours doing the rounds this afternoon.
In America the authoritative New York Times reported that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is in talks with President Mugabe. The subject of the talks: a peaceful transition of power from the President to Tsvangirai.
There are two sources for this story - a western diplomat and a prominent Zimbabean political analyst. They say Mugabe has taken this step because he finds the prospect of a runoff against Tsvangirai "demeaning". A spokesman for Tsvangirai said he knew nothing of such talks, and the Mugabe camp were saying nothing either.
But it is perhaps significant in the light a second rumour, which reached me this afternoon from my own source in government This said that last night Mugabe fully intended to appear on national television this morning and concede defeat.
My source said: "He wants to concede, and he is insisting that it is pointless to head into a runoff when he knows Zimbabweans don't want him. Reality has sunk in at last."
However, while conceding defeat privately, Mugabe was talked out of doing the same publicly, mostly by his senior armed forces chiefs. They persuaded him that if necessary he should take part in the runoff, if only to give them time to organise his dignified and safe exit from the country.
I asked Mugabe spokesman George Charamba for a comment on this, and I certainly got one: "That is absurd, crazy. It is a figment of your imagination."
Perhaps George had been talking to another source of mine, this time from within the ZEC, the official election agency. He told me that concession of defeat was the last thing on Mugabe's mind. Because the agency was about to declare him and Zanu-PF runaway winners of both parliamentary and presidential elections.
He said the ZEC would announce results that would give Zanu-PF a huge majority in Parliament, and Mugabe more than 50 per cent of the votes for president, thus ruling out any prospect of a runoff.
The justification for these extraordinary figures would be that Mugabe and the party have won by huge margins in their rural strongholds, with, to give one example, Mugabe getting 30,000 votes as president, and Tsvangirai only 2,000.
Three rumours. Take your pick.
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