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Latest update: 21/06/2008
- elections - Morgan Tsvangirai - Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe
Mugabe accuses opposition of tarring run-off
President Robert Mugabe accuses the opposition of attempting to tarnish next week's run-off vote while opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is due to announce if he will participate in the vote on Sunday. A. Duval Smith reports.
Members of the opposition have gone into hiding while waiting for the runoff election of June 27 amidst violence and intimidation. Watch the report of Alex Duval Smith and Enos Jongwe.
Zimbabwe's veteran leader Robert Mugabe has said opposition claims of violence ahead of next week's presidential run-off election are aimed at tarring the crunch vote, state media reported Saturday.
"They have been saying their supporters are being beaten up by our soldiers," the Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as telling an election rally in the second city Bulawayo on Friday.
"They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie!" the 84-year-old president said.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said some 70 of its supporters have been killed in a campaign of intimidation ahead of Friday's vote.
Its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been detained five times as he has sought to campaign, and MDC number two Tendai Biti has been charged with subversion and faces the death penalty.
A court has ordered Biti held in jail until at least July 7 -- well beyond the run-off date.
Zimbabwe's police chief has said the opposition was the "main culprit" behind political violence in the country and pledged to employ "all necessary force" ahead of the run-off.
Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from Britain, was beaten in the March 29 first-round vote by Tsvangirai, who -- according to official figures -- did not garner an absolute majority.
He has vowed to keep the opposition from power in his lifetime and pledged to fight to keep it from happening.






























Comments (1)
Don and MDC T-shirt and see what happens
Mr George Shire was interviewed on France24 and presented as a political analyst. He is completely uninformed about the situation – why was he given air time? A third of the population has fled the country and if you find one among them who is a Zanu Pf supporter I will be very surprised. What does he mean there is no evidence of government intimidation – are three million refugees in South Africa lying about what is happening? Unarmed people are being attacked by armed people. It is all very well sitting in London well fed and dressed warmly with a roof over your head. I challenge Mr Shire to don an MDC T-shirt and spend an hour in an area where the people are being starved, sleep out in the bush in the middle of winter expecting to be reattacked,, with everything you owned burnt up and maybe in terrible pain from beatings, and then let us hear what kind of song you sing – if you survive. People are not beating each other up - the authorities have declared the worse kind of war on defenseless people who want a change of government – which is their right. The present incumbents have destroyed the country’s every structure, scattered families, refused help to the people and promise no improvement. Someone said this situation is more like Myamar and they are exactly correct. The government is crying legal reasons for going ahead with the election, but where was that cry when they delayed giving election results for over a month after the lawful dead line and demanded reruns which were also outside the deadline? Why can’t the MDC canvas? Why are elected officials not allowed to take up their posts? Why are MDC officials elected by the people having to hide for fear of being killed? Why have some of the officials been killed? Mr Shiri is either a member of Zanu or he needs to get another job because you need to know what is happening to be an analyst. If you are getting your information from Zanu people you should know that they are the best liars the world has ever known. What we are facing is a holocaust - can’t you forget racial prejudice and face the truth – because if you can’t you are holding back the African people from the great destiny that is meant to be theirs. Until we all face the fact that we are all as good and as bad as each other we are not going to have the wonderful future we all long for.