ZIMBABWE: Defiant Robert Mugabe holds final rally, claiming the election is a fight against the British

Record ID: 1533612

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: Defiant Robert Mugabe holds final rally, claiming the election is a fight against the British
  • Date: 29th March 2008
  • Summary: (W3) EPWORTH, ZIMBABWE (MARCH 28, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ZANU-PF SUPPORTERS DANCING AND SINGING
  • Embargoed: 13th April 2008 10:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zimbabwe
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAF47BSY3DAN9I77PTMSQGLV8K4
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, facing the biggest challenge of his 28-year rule, mocks the opposition MDC and attacks former colonial power Britain in his last rally ahead of the joint presidential, parliamentary and council elections as security is at full alert.
    Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was on the trail on Thursday and Friday (March 28) in the final stages of the campaign before a presidential election on Saturday (March 29).
    On Thursday Mugabe was in Bindura and on Friday, in one of his last rallies before the poll, Mugabe struck a familiar theme, mocking the opposition MDC and attacking former colonial power Britain.

    "We are ready for a fight. and it will be a good fight against the British. The fight is not against the MDC, the MDC is just a puppet, a mouthpiece of the British," he told 6,000 people at Epworth, on the outskirts of Harare.
    Mugabe blames sanctions by Britain and other Western nations for the collapse of the economy in his once-prosperous nation, now suffering the world's highest inflation, at 100,000 percent, a virtually worthless currency, and food and fuel shortages.
    Mugabe faces his most formidable challenge in Saturday's presidential, parliamentary and council elections, with a two- pronged assault from ruling party defector Simba Makoni and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
    The two men are hoping to exploit widespread misery caused by a catastrophic economic crisis they blame on the veteran leader, who took power at independence after leading a guerrilla war against white rule. If no candidate wins more than 51 percent of the vote on Saturday, the election will go into a second round, when the two opposition parties would likely unite.
    Tsvangirai, like most observers, downplayed the possibility of Kenya-style bloodshed if Mugabe rigged victory. Most international election observers have been banned from Zimbabwe, except for a team from the regional SADC grouping, which critics accuse of taking too soft a line with Mugabe and allowing the crisis to fester.
    Zimbabwe's security forces went on full alert on Friday to quash violence during the most crucial election since independence.
    Police chief Augustine Chihuri said on Friday security forces would not allow declarations of victory before official results were announced -- expected to take several days.

    "We wish to advise the nation that all the defence and security forces of Zimbabwe are on full alert from now onwards covering the election period and beyond," he told a news conference, flanked by the chiefs of the army and other security services.
    Army and police chiefs say they will not accept an opposition victory, stoking accusations that Mugabe will use his incumbent power to rig the election.
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