| Zimbabwe: Mugabe lost the first round - but rigged results to force a second round under his rule |
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May 3.- Nearly five weeks after the presidential election, the results have at last come out. According to the electoral commission Morgan Tsvangirai, the challenger, beat Robert Mugabe, the incumbent, but too narrowly to win outright. The official data said that Mr Tsvangirai had won 47.9% of the vote to Mr Mugabe’s 43.2%. This means there must be a run-off. But it is unclear whether Mr Tsvangirai will take part. The Movement for Democratic Change insists that its candidate won outright with 50.3% and that the official results are false. Mr Tsvangirai faces a dilemma. If he boycotts a second round, he will lose by default. But if he agrees to compete, Mr Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party seem certain to use intimidation, violence and vote-rigging to force people to vote for the incumbent. For now the opposition leader remains abroad, unlikely to return without being offered guarantees of his safety. It is unclear when the run-off will take place, although it may be within three weeks of the result being officially declared. Mr Tsvangirai and the MDC may eventually agree to take part if there is a much stronger presence of international monitors than before, preferably from the United Nations. So far, the Southern African Development Community, a group of 14 countries in the region, has provided oversight. But the MDC and most independent observers say it is biased in favour of Mr Mugabe. In particular, Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, has been reluctant to oversee Mr Mugabe’s downfall ... [ full text ] |
