'We'll share power but not with Mugabe', says opposition

5/3/2008 - 9:06:40 AM

Zimbabwe’s opposition said it was willing to share power with the ruling party, but not long-time president Robert Mugabe.

Left unresolved was whether a run-off election would be held. Mugabe said he was willing to take part in a second round of voting after official results showed him in second place.

However, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said yesterday that a run-off could not be held in a climate of violence and repression.

Earlier, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission released results from the March 29 presidential election that showed opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai winning the most votes, but not the simple majority needed to avoid a run-off with Mugabe, the second-place finisher.

Mr Tsvangirai’s deputy in the Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, admitted that skipping a second round was a gamble that could result in another term for 84-year-old Mugabe, who ruled since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.

Mr Biti would not, as party leaders have done before, categorically rule out participating in a run-off, but said there could not be one “for the simple and good reasons that that country is burning” amid violence and an economic collapse from rampant inflation.

The opposition maintains that a tally giving Mr Tsvangirai anything but outright victory is fraudulent.

“Morgan Tsvangirai should be allowed to form a government of national healing that includes all Zimbabwean stakeholders,” Mr Biti told reporters in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The only condition we give ... is that President Mugabe must immediately concede.”

He said the party’s top decision-making body would meet today to decide its next step and that Mr Tsvangirai would hold a news conference soon.

Mr Biti said Mugabe’s safety and that of his family and his assets would be guaranteed, and suggested that he, like other former African leaders, should look to a future of retirement or as a respected statesman mediating in regional crises.

In Harare, top Mugabe aide Emmerson Mnangagwa said the president had accepted the outcome and would run in the second round of balloting.

Independent observers had said earlier that Mr Tsvangirai won the most votes, but not the 50%-plus-one vote needed to avoid a run-off.

Mr Mnangagwa said it was the opposition that was responsible for election fraud and violence, and accused the US, Britain and Australia of supporting the MDC. Many of his accusations seemed to echo charges laid against his own party, with the MDC substituted for ZANU-PF.

His version contrasted sharply with independent reports indicating the MDC, up against a ruling party that can call on the army and armed militants, was too weak to run a political campaign – let alone a violent uprising or mass electoral fraud.

Deputy information minister Bright Matonga said the constitution required a second round no sooner than 21 days from the announcement of the results.

The opposition is under enormous pressure, with its supporters facing violence and most of its top leaders, including Mr Biti and Mr Tsvangirai, staying out of Zimbabwe for fear of arrest.

The opposition and independent rights groups accuse Mugabe of having held back results for more than a month in order to orchestrate a campaign of violence and intimidation to cow voters ahead of any run-off.

In Washington, the US questioned whether a run-off could be free and fair.

“The bottom line is, it’s pretty hard to see how there could be a meaningful run-off in Zimbabwe when the government has done everything it can to both delay and obscure the results,” said US State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it was clear Mugabe lost the presidential election.

“His campaign of violence and intimidation over the last month must stop immediately,” Mr Miliband said in a statement issued in London.

“Any second round must be free, fair and open to international monitors. We will continue to support those working for democracy in Zimbabwe and regional and international partners committed to change.”

Mugabe has kept a stranglehold on power in recent years through elections that independent observers say were marred by fraud, intimidation and rigging.

He has been accused of brutality and increasing autocracy. But the main campaign issue for many had been the economic ruin of what had once been a regional breadbasket.