ZIMBABWE: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, launching his third campaign to unseat veteran President Robert Mugabe, says doesn't believe the forthcoming election will be legitimate

Record ID: 214006

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, launching his third campaign to unseat veteran President Robert Mugabe, says doesn't believe the forthcoming election will be legitimate
  • Date: 7th July 2013
  • Summary: NEWSPAPER HEADLINES ON ELECTION DATE OF JULY 31 NEWSPAPER HEADLINE, READING (English): "MUGABE GOES IT ALONE" NEWSPAPER HEADLINE, READING (English): "IT'S JULY 31!"
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zimbabwe
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADQDHFEVD4HZVRY3B2XVP87CBD
  • Story Text: Current Zimbabwean prime minister and opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, on Sunday (July 7) told youth members of his Movement for Democratic Change party that he had no reason to believe that the coming national election would not be rigged.
    Elections were confirmed for July 31 on Thursday (July 4) after Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court rejected a series of government appeals to delay the date in order to allow more time for reform of the security forces and state media.
    Speaking at an election rally in Marondera, Tsvangirai told the thousands of youth members, dressed in the red of the party, that they should remember what they were up against.
    "We are faced with an election without reforms and against a leopard that has remained faithful to its spots, but our faith in God and our collective desire for real transformation will make us triumph over the setbacks we have experienced," he said.
    The July 31 contest is Tsvangirai's third attempt to unseat Mugabe, the 89-year-old veteran who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.
    The two were forced into a power sharing deal after the last, disputed polls in 2008.
    Another contested result could interrupt impoverished Zimbabwe's recovery from a decade of economic decline that has prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country.
    Tsvangirai said however that MDC supporters should not get their hopes up.
    "Mugabe and the ZANU PF think that they will win it, but in the face of un-free and unfair conditions I don't think the forthcoming election will be legitimate. It doesn't matter who wins," he said.
    Zimbabwe adopted a new constitution this year in a trouble-free referendum backed by both long-serving Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
    However, the haste with which an election date was set has increased fears of a repeat of the violence and bloodshed that marred a 2008 vote and forced Mugabe and Tsvangirai to form a unity government.
    Despite concerns over the election however, youth members at the rally said they were very optimistic.
    "I think we are going to win the election resoundingly, MDC-Ts (Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai) are going to win," said one unnamed female supporter.
    "This is our year, this is the time we have been waiting for, Morgan Tsvangirai is going to win this election, and come August 2013, we are going to be in the new government," said another.
    Tsvangirai's MDC wanted to delay the election until mid-August to allow more time to prepare a smooth vote free of the deadly violence that marred the 2008 polls.
    Tsvangirai, who claims that Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has cheated him in two other polls since 2000, has been pressing for access to state media for all political parties and cast-iron guarantees that security forces will not meddle in politics.
    The state-owned Herald newspaper, tightly controlled by ZANU-PF, said the MDC had failed to substantiate its allegations, calling them a "frivolous and spurious" attempt to discredit the elections.
    Zimbabwean political analyst Ibbo Mandaza said it may not provide any meaningful change, but could mean a lot for the country.
    "On the one hand it will be a typical election, but on the other hand Zimbabweans like saying it's the election of the century," he said.
    "It's likely to be a contentious election, a highly contested one with many ramifications," he told Reuters television.
    Mugabe, 89, launched his election campaign on Friday (July 5) in a bid to extend his 33 years in power despite worries over his health and age.
    Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, has denied reports he suffers from prostate cancer or other major health problems.
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