Radio New Zealand
23 June 2008
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has withdrawn from a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe.
He says a free and fair poll is impossible in the current climate of violence, and urged the United Nations and the African Union to intervene to stop “genocide” in Zimbabwe.
“We in the MDC have resolved that we will no longer participate in this violent, illegitimate sham of an election process,” he said.
Morgan Tsvangirai won a presidential election in March, but failed to secure enough votes to avoid a run-off against Mr Mugabe.
Zimbabweans are due to go to the polls on 27 June. Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa said Zimbabwe would proceed with the poll unless Mr Tsvangirai officially notified the election authorities he was pulling out.
In a later statement, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said army helicopters were patrolling over Harare and Bulawayo, the second largest city, and that Zimbabwe was effectively under military rule.
It said more than 2,000 youth members of Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party were on the rampage, attacking citizens in central Harare.
Mr Tsvangirai has been detained five times during the campaign and the party’s secretary-general is in custody on a charge of treason. He faces a death sentence if convicted.
On Friday Mr Mugabe vowed never to hand over power to the MDC. “Only God who appointed me will remove me – not the MDC, not the British”, he said.
Movement for Democratic Change Senator David Coltart, told Morning Report regional leaders should remove diplomatic recognition from President Mugabe, to would force him to negotiate with the opposition.
PM condemns election ‘farce’
The Prime Minister says the election process in Zimbabwe has become a total farce, and there is no democracy, as anyone would understand it, in the country.
Helen Clark says the election process has taken the lives of countless people, and injured others to within an inch of their lives.
She told Morning Report if South Africa were to withdraw its support for Zimbabwe, it could have a dramatic impact on what happens there.
“South Africa has in effect sheltered Mr Mugabe, and his regime, for a long time. The only encouraging thing is that we are now seeing others of Zimbabwe’s neighbours speaking out strongly. That is a very positive development, becauseup until now the United Nations, for example, has not been able to get near this issue because of silence from Zimbabwe’s neighbours.”
Mr Mugabe, 84, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The economy is in ruins: inflation is over 165,000%, unemployment is at 80 percent and there are shortages of food and fuel. Millions of people have fled the country.
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