By AFP
Harare : Zimbabwe opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai claimed outright victory Saturday in presidential elections and warned Robert Mugabe’s ruling party would resort to violence to cling to power.
“We won the election without a need for a run-off,” Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told a press conference, giving his first personal declaration of victory.
There has still been no official announcement of the result a week after last Saturday’s polls but the ruling ZANU-PF has declared there will be a run-off and that 84-year-old Mugabe will stand and defeat Tsvangirai.
In the simultaneous vote for the senate, each party won 30 of the 60 seats to the largely ceremonial upper house of parliament, according to final electoral commission results Saturday.
Mugabe, who has overseen his country’s economic ruin since he took power at independence 28 years ago, suffered the worst setback of his long rule at last Saturday’s elections when his party lost control of parliament.
But he is in no mood for retirement and his party says it is confident he will deliver a knock-out blow to 56-year-old Tsvangirai in the second round, which should be held in a fortnight’s time.
“In the run-off, violence will be a new weapon to reverse the people’s victory,” Tsvangirai warned. “ZANU-PF is preparing a war against the people of Zimbabwe such as we witnessed in 2000” when Mugabe failed to win backing in a referendum for a broadening of his powers.
Shortly after that result, Mugabe loyalists embarked on a series of invasions of white-owned farms after accusing the farmers of persuading their workers to vote against the president’s proposals.
Several dozen people were killed in the ensuing violence while thousands of farmers and their workers were forced to flee. Tsvangirai, who suffered head injuries in an attack by Mugabe’s security forces last year, also extended an olive branch to his old rival by saying he would guarantee his future safety and called for dialogue.
“I am calling on President Mugabe to begin a dialogue with me, to begin the process of a peaceful, orderly and democratic transition,” Tsvangirai said. “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’.”
Tsvangirai said he wanted to put together a broad-based government of national unity and eschew partisanship. “On our part, we have started consultations to put in place an inclusive government of national unity. Our victory is not for the MDC but for every Zimbabwe where everyone is shareholder.”
In its politburo meeting on Friday, ZANU-PF not only endorsed Mugabe to stand in a run-off but also demanded a recount in at least 16 parliamentary constituencies, potentially enough to overturn its initial defeat.
With tensions rising between the government and opposition, long-time mediator Thabo Mbeki, the president of neighbouring South Africa, called for patience from all sides.
“I think there is time to wait, let’s see the outcome of the election results,” Mbeki told reporters in London after meeting Gordon Brown, the prime minister of former colonial power Britain. “If there is a re-run of the presidential election, let’s see what comes out of that. I think that is the correct way to go.”
Brown said his talks with Mbeki and other African leaders such as Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who is the current chair of the African Union, had reached agreement on the need for foreign observers to monitor a second round.
While Western observers were barred from overseeing last Saturday’s vote, the African Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC) both sent teams of monitors.
“In addition to us saying that the results should not be delayed, we are determined that of course there are international observers if there is a second round,” said Brown.
While ZANU-PF is weighing its legal options over the parliamentary vote, the MDC tried Saturday to persuade the high court to hear its application for the immediate release of the presidential results.
However MDC lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the court had put the matter off until Sunday. “I am concerned with the postponement but we will wait for tomorrow,” he told reporters.