Zimbabwe

Opposition will not take part in presidential run-off

Article published on the 2008-04-10 Latest update 2008-04-10 17:12 TU

A police patrol passes in front of presidential election posters in Zimbabwe.
Photo: Reuters

As the wait for Zimbabwe’s official presidential election results extends into its 12th day, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s party has announced that he will not participate in an election run-off. "We will not participate in a re-run of elections because we won that election hands down without a need for a re-run," Tendai Biti, a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) representative said in Johannesburg.

Sitting President Robert Mugabe’s party also announced Thursday that he would be attending an emergency summit of regional leaders in Zambia to discuss the post-election crisis. The MDC confirmed that Tsvangirai was also invited to Saturday’s meeting and would be attending.

 

This summit has been called to break the relative silence Zimbabwe’s neighbours have kept since the March 29 election. The 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) wants to send the message that “countries of the region do care, and that they are taking the matter rather seriously,” said former African Union commissioner Vijay Makhan.

 

“The fact that the results are yet to be announced so many days after the polls have taken place I think is an indictment on the institutions of the region,” Makhan told RFI.

 

“If we do not ourselves ensure that the institutions which we have created … are respected, and are allowed to perform independently, then we are weakening the whole democratic system,” Makhan said.

 

The MDC claimed outright victory in the presidential contest last Saturday, the same day that official results gave it a majority in Parliament. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party is contesting several seats, calling for a recount in enough of them to reverse the result.