Party backs Mugabe for run-off
Zanu-PF meeting decides to field president for a possible second round vote.
Although Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says its own calculations show Tsvangirai won just over the 50 per cent threshold, it says it is still prepared to compete in a second round if necessary.
Court hearing
On Saturday, a Zimbabwean court will hear an MDC application which would force the election commission to release the results of the presidential election.
“We want an urgent release of the results, within four hours of the court order,” Nelson Chamisa, MDC spokesman, said.
Zanu-PF has claimed it has evidence that the opposition MDC had bribed electoral officials and said it would contest its defeat in the parliamentary elections.
“This the worst-run election I have ever experienced,” Mutasa said.
“We will take him and carry him wherever we go,” he said after a five-hour politburo meeting.
Veterans’ support
Mugabe also received a show of support from the country’s so-called war veterans – many of whom were born after independence in 1980 -who vowed to “defend the country’s sovereignty” in the aftermath of the vote.
Jabulani Sibanda, the veterans’ leader, hit out at “illegal” MDC claims of victory and said “the spirit of our people is being provoked”.
The MDC claims its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has won the election [AFP] |
“We will be forced to defend our sovereignty,” Sibanda said after 400 veterans had staged a silent march through central Harare.
Although a run-off has to be held before April 19, some MDC sources allege Mugabe plans to extend that to 90 days to give him time to regroup.
“I am not aware of such a plan, but no matter how much they may want to buy time or beat up people or employ other dirty tricks, the people of Zimbabwe have already made a choice by voting for a candidate [Tsvangirai] that will take the country forward,” Chamisa said.
Meanwhile, police were still holding two foreign journalists on charges of operating without accreditation despite the attorney general’s office ordering their release.
Barry Bearak, a New York Times correspondent, and a 45-year-old British journalist were both detained on Thursday during a raid on a Harare guest house and later charged with breaching the country’s media laws.