Zimbabwe opposition demands rerun of ‘flawed’ election

ZIMBABWE’S embattled opposition has demanded new parliamentary elections under a different constitution, saying voting can never be free and fair under the country’s current regime.

President Robert Mugabe’s party scored an overwhelming win in a poll on Thursday condemned by all but his closest neighbours as severely flawed.

Citing major inconsistencies in the results, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai maintained that his Movement for Democratic Change had won 94 of Parliament’s 120 elected seats, and not the 41 announced by electoral officials.

Mr Mugabe’s ZANU-PF claimed 78 seats, and one went to an independent candidate, according to official results. Mr Mugabe appoints another 30 deputies, giving his party a more than two-thirds majority.

Opposition leaders and independent rights groups said years of violence, intimidation and repressive laws had skewed the election in Mr Mugabe’s favour before it even started.

The MDC is the first party to seriously challenge Mr Mugabe’s nearly 25-year rule. It has lost three elections since it was formed in 1999, all deemed tainted by Western observers.

The 81-year-old president rejected criticism of the latest polls on Saturday and said he hopes to stay in power until he is 100.

In an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation yesterday, Mugabe said his government has been unfairly “put into the dock” by Britain.

“We say to the rest of the world, we are what we are. We can’t change,” he said. “We can’t agree either to become puppets.”

Neighbouring countries largely supportive of Mr Mugabe’s increasingly isolated regime endorsed his party’s sweeping win.

Observers from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community issued a statement congratulating Zimbabwe on “peaceful, transparent, credible and well-managed elections, which reflect the will of the people.”