05 April 2008
By Fortune Tazvida
The delay in the announcement of presidential election results has fuelled speculation MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai might have won more than 50 percent of the vote after all.
Last week party Secretary General Tendai Biti said Tsvangirai had done enough to become President constitutionally after getting 50,3 percent of the vote while President Robert Mugabe only managed 43 percent.
On Saturday Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of deploying war veterans and youth militia to unleash a war on the people of Zimbabwe.
The war veteran's leadership on Friday addressed a press conference at which they claimed evicted former white farmers were already coming back into the country. A bizarre press conference saw deputy leader Joseph Chinotimba wearing a tradtional hat made of bird feathers while Jabulani Sibanda the leader spoke like a man possessed.
State security minister Didymus Mutasa admitted Zanu PF was 'down but not out,' but a chorus of criticism keeps pounding the government over its withholding of the presidential election results.
On Saturday armed riot police blocked an MDC legal team from accessing the High Court. The party wants the court to force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the results. The hearing has been moved to Sunday. The ZEC claim they need more time to prepare their case.
Tsvangirai insists, 'its unfair for President Mugabe to even hint at a run-off,' when he lost the presidential vote. Tsvangirai believes time is ripe for an orderly transition. 'In making this call, I believe it is in the interests of the people and the future of this country not to create conditions of anxiety and instability.' "I want to say to President Robert Mugabe: 'Please rest your mind, the new Zimbabwe guarantees your safety.'
Speaking during a visit to the UK, South African President Thabo Mbeki said the international community should wait to find out the outcome of the election.
"I think the situation for now is manageable," he told reporters.~ fortune@nehandaradio.com
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