Zimbabwe opposition leader declares victory in presidential poll

The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai, insisted Tuesday that he has won Saturday's presidential election but is just waiting for the official announcement from the country's electoral commission.

And he denied persistent reports he was negotiating with President Robert Mugabe to cut a deal for Mugabe to resign. He said he would wait on the official results before holding any talks with Mugabe, whom he blames for driving the country to ruin. Mugabe, 84, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britian in 1980.

"There are no discussions," Tsvangirai said. "Let's wait for ZEC to complete its work, then we can discuss the circumstances that will affect the people."

Zimbabwe's Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga also denied the rumours.
"There are no negotiations whatsoever, because we are waiting for the presidential results, so why do we need to hold any secret talks?"

There is a tremendous amount of tension in the capital, Harare, where paramilitary police have stepped up patrols. It's the same in Bulawayo, the second-largest city, where several roadblocks have been set up at strategic entries to the capital.

Tsvangirai said he had won more than the 50 percent simple majority needed for victory. Mugabe has made no statement about the election.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a coalition of 38 Zimbabwe civil society organizations, said its random representative sample of polling stations showed Tsvangirai won just over 49 per cent of the vote and Mugabe 42 per cent. Simba Makoni, a former Mugabe loyalist, trailed at about 8 per cent.

If that translates into the official figures it would necessitate a run-off vote because the opposition leader would be short of a simple majority by one percentage point.

At a news conference, Tsvangirai was speaking as if he already had been declared president.
"For years we have trod a journey of hunger, pain, torture and brutality…Today we face a new challenge of governing and rehabilitating our beloved country, the challenge of giving birth to a new Zimbabwe founded on restoration not retribution, on love not war."

There is no certainty of a peaceful handover of power if Mugabe is voted out of office unless Mugabe resigns. So far the electoral commission has offered no results in the presidential race.

The greatest fear for Zimbabweans is that Mugabe might declare himself winner, as he has in previous elections that observers said were marked by rigging, violence and intimidation.

If he decides to step down, he would likely want to negotiate immunity from prosecution for himself and those who have profited from his patronage, a group that includes top military leaders, party officials and business people who receive mining concessions, construction contracts and preferential licenses to run transport companies and other businesses. One commentator says these people are terrified of what might happen if Mugabe loses the vote.

Mugabe began his political life as a freedom fighter and a people's hero. He was hailed for his policies of racial reconciliation and development that brought education and health to millions who had been denied those services under colonial rule.

Zimbabwe's economy thrived on exports of food, minerals and tobacco. But things began to deteriorate when Mugabe ordered the often-violent seizures of white-owned commercial farms, ostensibly to return them to the landless black majority.

Instead, Mugabe replaced a white elite with a black one, giving the farms to relatives, friends and cronies who allowed cultivated fields to be taken over by weeds.

Today, a third of the population depends on imported food handouts. Another third has fled the country as economic and political refugees, and 80 per cent is jobless. Life expectancy has fallen from 60 years to 35, and shortages of food, medicine, water, electricity and fuel are chronic.

The economy is in dramatically worse shape than in past elections.