Zimbabwe

Presidential vote recount imminent

Article published on the 2008-04-28 Latest update 2008-04-28 14:31 TU

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (l) and oppositon leaderMorgan Tsvangirai (r)
(Photos: Reuters. Layout: RFI)

The head of Zimbabwe’s Electoral commission said a vote recount in the country’s presidential election should be completed by Monday. The announcement came after police arrested hundreds of people during a raid on the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in Harare.

International pressure is mounting against President Mugabe to release the results of a recount of the presidential vote. The United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer has threatened Zimbabwe with UN sanctions if the crisis is not resolved.

"I think that the whole recount process was intended to delay the announcement of the presidential results," Frazer told RFI. “And we believe that is intentional so that Robert Mugabe can rig any results and any run-offs."

She continued by saying that the priority for the US is the humanitarian crisis in the country: "The government has not only delayed the announcement of the presidential results but also has undertaken a systematic campaign to punish voters, electoral officials and MDC agents".

The anticipated recount comes as police raided MDC offices in Harare on Friday. They raided offices where some victims of post-election violence had taken refuge and drove the activists to a police station in a bus and some trucks.

The detainees "will be screened against participation in politically-motivated criminal activities around the country", said police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena, who was quoted in the state-controlled Herald newspaper on Saturday.

The crackdown came after reports in the state media that opposition activists had burned down homesteads belonging to President Robert Mugabe's The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party.

The MDC has named their leader Morgan Tsvangirai as the winner over Mugabe in the first round of the presidential election, of which no official results have been released to date.