Mugabe warns opponents against post-election violence
March 27th, 2008 | EthioPolitics.com |
HARARE (AFP) — President Robert Mugabe issued a stark warning to his challengers that he would not tolerate post-election violence as the contest to rule Zimbabwe entered the final stretch on Thursday.
As one of his two challengers said it could take a decade to fix the economy of the one-time regional role model, Mugabe fired off a fresh diatribe against his opponents whom he called stooges of former colonial power Britain.
He also denied he was rigging his way to a sixth term in office after accusations from his domestic opponents as well as Western countries, which accused him of stealing victory last time round in 2002.
In comments reported by the state-run Herald newspaper, Mugabe told a campaign rally in the eastern district of Nyanga that an opposition lawmaker had threatened protests similar to those which followed December’s disputed elections in Kenya.
“Just dare try it,” Mugabe said. “We don’t play around while you try to please your British allies. Just try it and you will see. We want to see you do it.
“When you join a political fight by way of an election, you must be prepared to lose. If ZANU-PF (Mugabe’s ruling party) wins, you must accept it, if you win we will accept,” the 84-year-old president added.
Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, is facing the fiercest battle of his political career at the joint parliamentary and presidential polls on Saturday. He is being challenged by long-time opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his former finance minister Simba Makoni.
Western observers have been banned from monitoring the vote, but the opposition has said Mugabe is blatantly flouting a series of pre-election agreements including a ban on security forces entering polling booths.
Vote monitors from countries such as China, Iran and Kenya have been invited to observe Saturday’s proceedings.
“You always tell lies, lies that there has been rigging,” Mugabe said, referring to the opposition. “They are the ones who brought the language of rigging.”
The election is taking place against a backdrop of an economic meltdown, characterised by annual inflation running at more than 100,000 percent and unemployment over 80 percent.
Even basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil and sugar are sometimes hard to find while around a third of the 13 million population has left for greener pastures, mainly in neighbouring South Africa.
Makoni, who left government in 2002 as the country began its downward slide, said he would make restoring the economy and banishing a climate of fear his top priorities were he to oust Mugabe.
But he warned that there could be no quick-fix for the economy given the accumulated damage.
“This is not about the first six months after March 29 or even the first five years … it could range from 10 to 15 years,” he told AFP.
Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition Movement for Democratic (MDC), was meanwhile making a final push for votes in rural district to the east of Harare where the ZANU-PF has traditionally prospered.
Analysts say that the opposition’s chances of success are largely dependent on breaking Mugabe’s grip on the rural electorate. The MDC has fared strongest in urban areas but the rural population has tended to vote ZANU-PF.