Mugabe loses without losing

The "official" results from the first round of voting have been released, and Robert Mugabe couldn't even win his own rigged election. Unfortunately, he'll get another chance:

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said challenger Morgan Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent of the vote, compared with 43.2 percent for Mugabe.

"The announcement of the results today was illegal. The MDC stands by its previous stance that the vote was stolen from the opposition by a regime that is clinging to power," said Tendai Biti, secretary-general of Tsvangirai's political party, Movement for Democratic Change.

Under Zimbabwe law, because neither candidate got 50 percent plus one vote, a runoff is needed.

But Biti said the law states that the candidate who has the most votes should be president. The MDC also contends that Tsvangirai got 50.3 percent of the vote and is the official winner.

[...]

The MDC has also maintained that it will not participate in a runoff. If it holds to that, Mugabe would retain the presidency, said the chief of the electoral commission, George Chiweshe.

Reports of violence against opposition supporters have emerged from Zimbabwe amid heightened tensions since the presidential election.

Zimbabwe's religious leaders called for international help.

"People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated by being asked to repeat slogans of the political party they are alleged not to support," according to a statement from a coalition of Christian churches in Zimbabwe released two weeks ago. "In some cases, people are murdered."

Government spokespeople have denied those reports or said they were exaggerated.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at May 4, 2008 10:27 AM