Zimbabwe recount demand decried
Opposition says ruling party’s bid to delay presidential vote result is “illegal”.
The opposition petition was due to be heard by the court on Saturday but was postponed until Sunday.
The MDC has said that if the electoral commission is forced to present the results of the March 29 poll they will show that their candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was the winner.
“The result is known that the MDC won the presidential and parliamentary election,” he told reporters.
“President Mugabe and Zanu-PF should accept the results. The MDC won the election and will not accept the suppression of the will of the people.”
Zanu-PF has said that there is no chance that the opposition leader won an outright victory and confirmed that Mugabe would stand in any run-off.
The electoral commission is yet to announce any results from the presidential vote and the opposition has repeatedly accused the ruling party of rigging the election.
‘Preparing a war’
Tsvangirai also accused Mugabe’s party of planning to do all they could to keep the 84-year-old president in power.
In depth |
|
“Zanu-PF is preparing a war against the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.
Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu-PF spokesman, dismissed the allegation saying: “We are a peace-loving party and the people of Zimbabwe will not forgive anyone who foments violence.”
The incident came after the country’s so-called war veterans – many of whom were born after independence in 1980 – vowed to occupy all the remaining white-owned farms in Masvingo province.
Mugabe has signalled that he is willing to enter into a run-off vote for the presidency [AFP] |
In a separate article in the Sunday Mail it was reported that Zanu-PF had rejected an offer to form a unity government with the MDC.
“Approaches were made by [the MDC] to form a government of national unity. Although it is unclear in what capacity the emissaries came, Zanu-PF rejected the approaches, and this was communicated to the MDC,” the newspaper quoted Chinamasa as saying.