Africa
Mugabe Ready for Another Five Years
By DUMISANI MULEYA and SARAH HUDLESTON 3/5/08
May 5, 2008 - 7:43:38 AM

ZIMBABWE will have a presidential election runoff in three weeks but there is no indication yet that Robert Mugabe will face a strong contender.

The release of the results on Friday brought to an end the long wait and speculation about the outcome of the critical election, but it also intensified the stalemate in the country as the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), rejected the figures.

Until the MDC decides whether it will participate in the runoff, Mugabe looks set for another five years in office.

There is also concern that political tension and violence will increase in the country over the next three weeks. The runoff will most likely take place on May 24.

 However, the MDC claims Tsvangirai won 50,3% of the vote, compared with Mugabe’s 43,8%, but its figures, which have fluctuated between 50% and 60% since the dispute started 34 days ago, were not confirmed by independent sources.

 The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an independent electoral monitoring group, says Tsvangirai received 49,2% of the vote against 41,8% for Mugabe.

 At a press conference in Johannesburg on Friday , the MDC said it would announce its next move by the end of the weekend.

 MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said the ZEC had “shifted” nearly 90000 votes from Tsvangirai’s tally to Mugabe and independent candidate Makoni.

 Biti said that although the party believed there was no need for a runoff, its national council would discuss the matter this weekend and arrive at a decision.

 Tsvangirai spoke to several Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders on Friday, and some “were fighting Zimbabwe’s corner”, Biti said, while others suffered “a paralysis of perspective” .

 “The SADC is under the microscope and it is clear that someone has to ask the ZEC why it has not acted within the law, and what was agreed to at the emergency SADC summit in Lusaka in April,” Biti said.

 He ruled out a court challenge to the result, saying “when you have a bunch of farmers posing as judges, it is pointless”.

 Despite the ZEC’s decision to abort the verification process after examining only five constituencies, and not to let presidential candidates inspect and sign off the tally sheets, Biti said Tsvangirai won the presidential poll, and was accordingly the legally elected president of Zimbabwe.

 “The law is clear, the person who gets the highest number of votes is declared the winner.”

 The official outcome , he said, “is typical of someone who believes he has the divine right to rule. This amounts to a major breach of Zimbabwe’s electoral law, is basically grand theft, and is consistent with a regime determined to hang onto power at all costs. Zanu (PF) has emasculated the social fabric of the country in this assault on the due process of law.”

 An agreement signed this week between Tsvangirai’s MDC faction and a rival group led by Arthur Mutambara states clearly that Tsvangirai will challenge Mugabe in the second round of voting.

 “This agreement is premised on the underlying assumption that Morgan Tsvangirai has either won the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential elections held on March 29 or will face a ‘runoff’ election,” the agreement reads.

 “In the event of a ‘runoff’ election, the parties undertake to campaign together to ensure Tsvangirai wins the ‘runoff’ election.”

 The MDC, which initially said it was prepared to fight the runoff, says it will no longer do so because Mugabe has deployed state security forces — army, police and intelligence units — across the country to campaign for him.

 The March 29 poll and the inertia of the electoral commission triggered a wave of violence that has claimed more than a dozen lives . A bruising political campaign is expected in the three weeks before the runoff.

 The agreement — facilitated by exiled Zimbabwean telecoms tycoon Strive Masiyiwa — says Tsvangirai will return to Zimbabwe to campaign for the runoff in co-operation with Mutambara.

 It says the MDC factions will work together in Parliament to take control of the house of assembly. The deal effectively relegates Zanu (PF) to the opposition benches, with Mugabe as leader of the official opposition.

 The parliamentary poll produced a hung parliament , with none of the parties winning an absolute majority of seats.

 Tsvangirai’s faction won 99 seats, while Mutambara’s camp got 10 seats in the house of assembly. Zanu (PF) has 97 seats.

 The winner of the presidential election runoff will appoint 10 provincial governors and five senators. There are also 18 chiefs in the senate who usually vote with the majority partly.

 The MDC factions have also agreed to reunite in a single party within a year.

 The parties have agreed to have one chief whip and caucus; to vote together in Parliament; and to elect a speaker of Parliament, nominated by Tsvangirai’s faction, and a deputy speaker from Mutambara’s group.

 Their arrangements in the senate depend on whether Tsvangirai wins the runoff or not.

 Tsvangirai will also appoint Mutambara’s officials into cabinet and diplomatic posts .