Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has promised he will stand down if his party loses in the country’s general elections, as polling booths opened on Wednesday morning.
After 33 years of
authoritarian power, the 89-year-old said he would “surrender” if beaten by
current coalition partner Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Both Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai say they expect an outright
victory that would avoid the need for another term of power-sharing, but the
latter has accused his opponent of corruption and vote-rigging in a desperate
bid to keep control of the southern-African country.
Administrative, logistical and funding problems have reportedly
hindered the arrangements of the official state election body, but today it
said everything was ready for voting which began at 7am (6am BST) at some 9,000
polling stations across Zimbabwe.
Of a population of 13 million – in a country the size of Germany
– there at 6.4 million registered voters.
And Mr Mugabe, whose government effectively dissolved today,
said he would respect the decision of the people.
He told a press conference in Harare: “If you go into a process
and join a competition where there are only two outcomes, win or lose, you
can't be both. You either win or lose. If you lose, you must surrender.”
Mr Tsvangirai, however, disputes those claims. He told the BBC:
“He [Mugabe] does not believe in the right of the people to choose. He does not
believe he can be voted out of office.”
Previous elections in 2002 and 2008 were marred by allegations
of vote rigging and political violence, and Mr Tsvangirai’s party warned
foreign observers not to take the lack of visible disorder this year to mean
there weren’t any problems.
He wrote in an editorial for the domestic News Day paper:
“Mugabe... is fixing this election in a more sophisticated fashion than
beatings, killings and intimidation.”
Western observer missions have been refused entry to the country
to monitor proceedings, though diplomats from a number of embassies have been
allowed to visit polling stations.
On Tuesday the US State Department voiced its worries over “the
lack of transparency in electoral preparations”. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said
they were concerned by “the continued partisan behaviour of state security
institutions and by the technical and logistical issues hampering the
administration of a credible and transparent election”.
And the International Crisis Group, a research organization,
said it feared a return to ”a protracted political crisis, and possibly
extensive violence“ if the Zimbabwe poll is inconclusive or disputed.
Voting is scheduled to close at 7pm (6pm GMT), but may be
extended into a second day on Thursday, according to officials. The electoral
commission has promised it will release final tallies by 5 August.
Independent.co.uk
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