Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has rejected the latest attempt by the ruling ZANU-PF party to perpetuate the rule of veteran President Robert Mugabe. The move follows claims by government officials to have seen an as yet unreleased official tally of the March 29 presidential vote. It suggests the leader of the opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, won 47 percent of the vote, followed closely by President Mugabe with 43 percent, and independent candidate Simba Makoni trailing the two with ten percent of the vote. ZANU-PF partisans say it is apparent nobody won the election and are demanding a run-off.
But the opposition is dismissing the ruling party’s claims. The electoral commission is expected to release the rest of the vote count today in Harare. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa tells reporter Peter Clottey the ruling party is playing dirty tricks on Zimbabweans in order to cling to power.
“It is totally a distortion of the truth on the ground. As far as we are concerned, as far as the facts and the truth is concerned the MDC won well above the 50 percent threshold and the 47 percent being touted by the so-called sources within government is just an attempt by ZANU-PF to prepare people in terms of mindset and a frame of a sort that there is going to be a run-off, which in fact again is an artificial result, which has been caused by the ZANU-PF,” Chamisa pointed out.
He said the opposition parties as well as ordinary Zimbabweans are calling on the international community to help resolve the economic and political crisis.
“We definitely need multinational approach to the resolution of the crisis. Certainly, the resolution lies within our borders, but we need international help, with international support and solidarity to resolve all the issues. We have a very serious dictatorship in Zimbabwe, which is prepared to decimate the entire population for the sake of power. It is really important for the region, SADC (Southern African Development Community), for the continent, the AU (African Union) to continue putting a helping hand on the Zimbabwe problems and to keep an open eye on the behavior and attitude of this regime,” he said.
Chamisa said the circumstances in the country are dire.
“The situation is out of control. It is now a humanitarian crisis. This is now a conflict crisis, which has just gone beyond the level during the elections. We are almost in the league of Iraq; we are in the league of Darfur and an almost a genocidal campaign against opposition supporters. The situation has to stop before it gets out of hand. Otherwise, we are going to have a bloodbath. And this regime is a vampire regime. It survives on vampire instincts, sucking blood and wanting to liquidate individuals,” Chamisa noted.
He dismissed ridiculous assertions that people around President Mugabe are the cause of the problems rather than the veteran leader.
“That could be true, but at the end of the day, the bottom line is that President Mugabe has served the country for such a long period. His service to the country should just be acknowledged. We acknowledge that he has risen to the extent that he did what he could, but of course it is not enough, because Zimbabweans are suffering. What he should do is honorably exit the political stage and leave those who are young and who have new ideas to run the country,” he said.
Meanwhile President Mugabe’s government is calling the United Nations Security Council’s meeting aimed at finding a lasting solution to the ongoing economic and post-election crisis “racist, colonial and sinister.”