ZIMBABWE/SOUTH AFRICA: Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vows to pack entrenched President Robert Mugabe off into retirement at a thunderous final campaign rally
Record ID:
214019
ZIMBABWE/SOUTH AFRICA: Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vows to pack entrenched President Robert Mugabe off into retirement at a thunderous final campaign rally
- Title: ZIMBABWE/SOUTH AFRICA: Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vows to pack entrenched President Robert Mugabe off into retirement at a thunderous final campaign rally
- Date: 29th July 2013
- Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (JULY 29, 2013) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS AND CAMERA CREWS AT MEDIA BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA, JACOB ZUMA, SAYING: "I would say to the people of Zimbabwe please have your elections in peace so that they can be declared free and fair so that Zimbabweans can then be faced with the task of reconstructing Zimbabwe and indeed proving that democracy can come back to Zimbabwe as it were, so we wish them well, we wish them all well as they practice their campaigns, and we are looking forward to very pleasant moments." HARARE, ZIMBABWE (JULY 29, 2013) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF OPPOSITION PARTY MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) AT THE RALLY VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF MDC IN A TREE SUPPORTERS OF MDC CHANTING PARTY SLOGANS PARTY SUPPORTER WEARING MDC COLOURS BANNERS OF MDC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SUPPORTERS RAISING UP THEIR HANDS SUPPORTERS SINGING AND DANCING MDC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI ARRIVING AT THE RALLY SURROUNDED BY SECURITY SUPPORTERS CHEERING MORGAN TSVANGIRAI WAVING SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MDC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "Our freedom will never be complete until we throw away the shackles of bitterness. After all this is done, I want president Mugabe to enjoy his retirement in peace and comfort of his homeland." VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO MORGAN TSVANGIRAI (SOUNDBITE) (English) MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "With two days to go to an election, I as the presidential candidate do not have the votes roll, as we speak our chief election agent Morgan Komichi is in police custody as a result of the incompetence of ZEC ( Zimbabwe Electoral Commission)." VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS
- Embargoed: 13th August 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVACQO5VW5IG2NXS57PKX2NU9T7T
- Story Text: South African president Jacob Zuma on Monday (July 29) said he hoped for fair and free elections in Zimbabwe.
"I would say to the people of Zimbabwe please have your elections in peace so that they can be declared free and fair so that Zimbabweans can then be faced with the task of reconstructing Zimbabwe and indeed proving that democracy can come back to Zimbabwe as it were, so we wish them well, we wish them all well as they practice their campaigns, and we are looking forward to very pleasant moments" he said.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vowed to pack entrenched President Robert Mugabe off into retirement at a thunderous final campaign rally on Monday, capping a high-spirited election race that has gone down to the wire.
With no reliable opinion polls, it is hard to say whether 61-year-old Tsvangirai will succeed on Wednesday in his third attempt to unseat his 89-year-old rival, who has run the southern African nation since independence from Britain in 1980.
To judge by the vociferous support for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's joking references to his own chances of success in Harare, the veteran president's ZANU-PF party is a long shot to take the capital in the vote.
The result hinges on whether Mugabe's control of the state media and security forces, the loyalty of independence war veterans and rural voters, and alleged irregularities with the voters' register, are enough to secure Africa's oldest leader another five years in power.
Speaking to 50,000 red-clad supporters in a Harare parade ground, Tsvangirai struck a conciliatory note towards Mugabe, saying he was not after revenge or prosecution, despite the death of 200 MDC supporters in disputed polls in 2008.
"After all this is done, I want President Mugabe to enjoy his retirement in the peace and comfort of his home," Tsvangirai told the crowd. "It's time for new blood and new ideas."
In return, MDC supporters, some perched high in trees to get a better glimpse, chanted "Bye Bye, Mugabe, we'll miss you". Many waved placards saying "89, 90, Game Over", a reference to the advanced years of the former guerrilla chief who led the fight against white minority rule in former Southern Rhodesia.
Mugabe receives regular medical treatment in Singapore, but denies reports he has been suffering from prostate cancer.
The elections bring the curtain down on four years of fractious unity government brokered by South Africa and other countries in the region after the violence-marred 2008 poll.
Around 6.4 million people, almost half the population, are registered to vote although critics say the list is riddled with irregularities such as legions of dead people and, in some areas, more voters than residents.
The election law says the results of the parliamentary and presidential vote should be known by Aug. 5, although it is likely to come well before that. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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