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| Sunday, 3 April 2005 |
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Mugabe wins in Zimbabwe, Opposition charges fraud Thursday (AFP) President Robert Mugabe's ruling party on Friday swept to victory in elections as the opposition leveled charges of "massive fraud" and accused the veteran leader of treating Zimbabwe like his "private property." Mugabe's ZANU-PF took 69 seats, which - combined with the 30 seats directly appointed by the president - put the ruling party within a whisker of clinching a two-thirds majority in the 150-member parliament. Mugabe, 81, has said he wants a two-thirds majority to be able to make changes to the constitution that analysts see as paving the way for his retirement expected in 2008. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) garnered 35 seats, winning victory in Harare and Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, while the rural vote went to ZANU-PF, according to results from the elections commission. But as the ruling party cruised toward victory, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai slammed the outcome of what he termed "this disgusting, massive fraud." "For people to even claim that this is a democratic process is simply not acceptable," Tsvangirai said, although he added that he did not plan to challenge the results in court. Tsvangirai cited discrepancies in several constituencies between the number of voters and the results announced by the elections commission, citing as an example the district of Manyame near the capital Harare, where a 10,000-vote gap existed between the two. Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao was elected in Manyame, while his brother Leo and mother Sabina also won in the elections held Thursday. "He is going to do what he wants, this is his private property and for people to even claim that this is a democratic process, when it is so fraudulent, is totally not acceptable," said Tsvangirai. Former colonial ruler Britain said the vote was "seriously flawed," with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw saying Mugabe had "yet again denied ordinary Zimbabweans a free and fair opportunity to vote, further prolonging the political and economic crisis he has inflicted on their country". |
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