Mugabe agrees to presidential run-off vote, opposition hesitant

Last Updated: Friday, May 2, 2008 | 12:39 PM ET

CBC News

The long-awaited official results of Zimbabwe's presidential vote released Friday show that neither the opposition nor ruling party reached the necessary majority to avoid a runoff.

President Robert Mugabe said he will take part in a second round of voting, but the opposition has indicated it may oppose it. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe casts his vote on election day in Harare on March 29. Results released Friday gave him 43.2 per cent of the presidential ballot. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press)

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) also stated Friday that the party would be willing to share power with the ruling party, but not with longtime president Mugabe.

"[MDC leader] Morgan Tsvangirai should be allowed to form a government of national healing that includes all Zimbabwean stakeholders," party secretary general Tendai Biti told reporters in Johannesburg, South Africa. "The only condition we give … is that President Mugabe must immediately concede."

A tally by the country's electoral commission gave Tsvangirai 47.9 per cent of the ballots, compared with Mugabe's 43.2 per cent.

Since neither candidate won the 50-per-cent-plus-one-vote majority required by Zimbabwean law to take the election outright, a run-off vote must be held. The country's constitution stipulates that it must occur within 21 days of the official results notice.

"No candidate has received a majority of votes counted. A second election will be held at a date to be announced," the commission said in a statement.

Mugabe aide Emmerson Mnangagwa said the president has accepted results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission earlier in the day that showed he lost last month's election.

Opposition rejects official numbers

A spokesperson for the opposition MDC said at a news conference Friday his party will decide during the weekend whether to contest the run-off.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said the party has rejected the commission's results and believes Tsvangirai is the clear winner. It said a second vote would be mired by intimidation and fraud at the hands of Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF.

But Biti acknowledged that skipping a second round is a gamble that could result in another term for Mugabe, 84, who has ruled since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.

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.

Officials from both parties had been asked to confirm the Electoral Commission's tally as part of the verification process.

MDC says that there were discrepancies between party tallies and the ZEC count. About 120,000 votes are in dispute, and the MDC says that amount tips the balance toward an opposition majority of 50.3 per cent, meaning there's no need for a runoff.

Biti said the process to verify the electoral result was "aborted prematurely."

"They jumped the gun. They refused to have the verification process undertaken because they have a lot to hide," spokesman Nelson Chamisa told CBC News.

Don't need UN observers in run-off: government

In a phone interview with CBC News on Friday, deputy information minister Bright Matonga said the government fully supports a run-off vote, but will not invite United Nations observers to monitor the election.

"There's no need for the United Nations to be involved because there's no crisis in Zimbabwe. That was thrown out at the UN Security Council [meeting] … so there is no need for these bodies to get involved," he said.

"ZANU-PF is ready to conduct, to take part in that runoff in a very peaceful environment."

Biti appealed to the UN Security Council on Tuesday to appoint a special envoy to investigate the violence in Zimbabwe and help resolve the election crisis. While the U.S., Britain and France supported the idea, South Africa, Russia and China were opposed, according to diplomats. No envoy was appointed.

"That process failed because there is no evidence to substantiate those allegations [of government-sponsored violence]. We presented our case and we came [out] on top," Matonga said.

The MDC has accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of launching a campaign of "massive violence" in remote rural areas in an effort to intimidate their opponents ahead of a likely run-off vote.

International criticism

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier issued a statement Friday calling for any runoff to be transparent, with international election observers present.

"If a run-off takes place, it must be held in an open and transparent manner, in accordance with regional and international principles regarding elections. The presence of international and regional election observers will be essential," he said.

"The presence of international and regional election observers will be essential."

He added that Canada supports the call for an appointment of a UN special envoy.

Washington, meanwhile, questioned whether a run-off could be free and fair when the ruling party is "harassing, repressing, arresting and abusing the members of the opposition."

"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 State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it was clear Mugabe has lost and called for an end to his "campaign of violence and intimidation."

"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," Miliband said in a statement issued in London.

Campaign of 'terror and violence'

Human Rights Watch this week accused the Zimbabwean army of collaborating with Mugabe loyalists in a campaign of "terror and violence" to intimidate dissidents, including MDC supporters and members.

ZANU-PF has also accused the opposition of inciting violence that has spread across the country since the March 29 election.

Security officers arrested dozens of people at MDC headquarters last week, many of whom were using the office as a hideout from the clashes. All were released by Tuesday.

Mugabe is facing the greatest challenge to his 28-year grip on power, which has been tarnished in recent years by an economic collapse, with annual inflation rising above 100,000 per cent and unemployment at 80 per cent.

Legislative election results released by the electoral commission last month showed ZANU-PF had lost control of parliament, with 109 seats going to MDC and 97 to Mugabe's party. Final results for the 60 elected seats in the Senate gave the ruling party and the opposition 30 seats each.

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