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Thursday, April 3, 2008 - Web posted at 6:31:46 GMT Zanu-PF loses grip HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's party lost control of Zimbabwe's parliament yesterday, bolstering opposition claims that hundreds of thousands of impoverished Zimbabweans voted for change in weekend elections. |
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The opposition claimed outright victory for leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential race, but the state-controlled newspaper predicted a runoff. The newspaper report was the first official admission that Mugabe had not won re-election. An independent election observer said a ruling party official had told her that the party would use every weapon in its considerable arsenal to ensure a runoff victory. Imani Countess of Washington-based TransAfrica Forum told The Associated Press that in a conversation with her, an unnamed senior Zanu-PF official "was very calm and jovial but made it very, very clear that if there was a run-off, that Zanu would use all the state organs at its disposal to ensure victory". Countess called the conversation frightening and "very, very worrisome". She said the powerful elite that has benefited from Mugabe's patronage had a vested interest in ensuring he wins. TransAfrica Forum is an independent group promotes African interests in the United States. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission results appear to confirm the unravelling of a regime that has ruled the country since independence. Official results, which have trickled out slowly since last Saturday's election, showed that Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF could not outvote the combined opposition seats in parliament. Official figures said the mainstream Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had taken 105 seats, a breakaway faction nine and an independent one in the 210-seat parliament. Mugabe's Zanu-PF has so far taken 94. Seven of Mugabe's Cabinet ministers have lost their seats, according to official results. The opposition had 41 of the 120 seats in the old, smaller assembly. The mainstream MDC faction said Tsvangirai had won 50,3 per cent of the presidential vote and Mugabe 43,8 per cent according to its own tallies of results posted outside polling stations. No official results have emerged in the presidential election and the government dismissed the opposition claim. But all the signs are that Mugabe is in the worst trouble of his rule. MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said Tsvangirai had an absolute majority, enough for outright victory, but he would accept a second round runoff against Mugabe "under protest". Biti appealed to Mugabe to concede defeat and avoid "embarrassment". Analysts said the president was likely to be humiliated in a runoff. His government called the MDC claim "mischievous". Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told Sky television: "President Mugabe is going nowhere. We are not going to be pressurised into anything." The government has warned that victory claims before an official result would be regarded as a coup d'etat. WHERE'S MUGABE? Matonga said in a telephone interview with Sky: "No-one is panicking around President Mugabe. The army is very solidly behind our president, the police force as well." Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba said the MDC was in contempt of the law by announcing results. "You are drifting in very dangerous territory and I hope the MDC is prepared for the consequences," he said. Mugabe, known for his fierce rhetoric, has not been seen in public since voting, despite speculation he would make a television address on Tuesday night. There were fears of rising tensions as people stayed away from work to await results. Paramilitary police stepped up patrols in Harare and Bulawayo, the second city, and checked vehicles at roadblocks leading to the capital. Police ordered stores selling alcohol and beer halls to shut early Tuesday night. The opposition has most of its support in urban centres. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, a Nobel peace laureate, said yesterday he feared violence, "given the brutality with which the authorities have in the past reacted". The government appears to have been preparing the population for a runoff by revealing its own projections showing a second round would be required in the statutory three weeks after last Saturday's vote. Both Tsvangirai and the government have dismissed widespread speculation that the MDC was negotiating with Zanu-PF for a managed exit for Mugabe. However analysts continue to say that informed sources say that there have been talks. Some analysts said Mugabe was unlikely to make a negotiated exit but go down fighting in the runoff. The state-owned Herald newspaper said yesterday that projections for the presidential election showed Mugabe would fail to win an outright majority for the first time in nearly three decades. The prospect of a runoff has raised fears both inside and outside Zimbabwe that the hiatus before a new vote would spark serious violence between security forces and militia loyal to Mugabe on one side and MDC supporters on the other. The Herald also said the government had decided to immediately implement tax relief to cushion the effect of runaway inflation, officially over 100 000 per cent but estimated to be much higher - the world's highest rate. The widening of workers' tax-free threshold tenfold to 300 million Zimbabwean dollars a month - US$10 000 at the government's official rate but about US$7,50 on the black market - is widely seen as an attempt to curry favour with voters and suggests Zanu-PF is preparing for a runoff. The opposition and international observers said Mugabe rigged the last presidential election in 2002. But some analysts say the groundswell of discontent over the economy is too great for him to fix the result this time without risking major unrest. Apart from surreal inflation of more than 100 000 per cent and a virtually worthless currency, Zimbabweans are suffering food and fuel shortages and an HIV-AIDS epidemic that has contributed to a steep drop in life expectancy. The opposition, including former Finance Minister Simba Makoni, who stood as a third candidate, is expected to unite behind Tsvangirai if there is a runoff. Nampa-Reuters-AP |
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