ZIMBABWE: ROBERT MUGABE'S ZANU-PF PARTY SCORES OVERWHELMING VICTORY IN COUNTRY'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS/ WHILE OPPOSITION REJECTS RESULT
Record ID:
584905
ZIMBABWE: ROBERT MUGABE'S ZANU-PF PARTY SCORES OVERWHELMING VICTORY IN COUNTRY'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS/ WHILE OPPOSITION REJECTS RESULT
- Title: ZIMBABWE: ROBERT MUGABE'S ZANU-PF PARTY SCORES OVERWHELMING VICTORY IN COUNTRY'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS/ WHILE OPPOSITION REJECTS RESULT
- Date: 2nd April 2005
- Summary: (BN12) HARARE, ZIMBABWE (APRIL 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS AT PRESSER 0.04 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE SAYING: "It's a political statement they (MDC) have to make in the face of defeat. Of course having experienced this defeat they must say something to their people to arouse their confidence but it's a confidence creating statement, they don't mean it. How can we ever reverse what the people have said? It's impossible." 0.36 3. JOURNALISTS AT PRESSER 0.40 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE SAYING: "Mass action is not the prerogative of one side, mass action. We have two or three weapons. We can also raise mass actions against their mass action and there would be naturally a conflict. A serious conflict. Two, law and order instruments will be used to prevent any mass action that is likely to lead to lawlessness in the country." 1.19 5. JOURNALISTS AT PRESSER 1.23 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE SAYING: "Zimbabwe will never interfere in the domestic affairs of Britain. He (Tony Blair) should not fear any interference from us." / PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE LEAVING PRESSER 1.40 7. WS: EXTERIOR MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) OFFICES 1.46 8. CU: MDC FLAG FLYING OUTSIDE BUILDING 1.50 9. MDC BANNER HANGING OUTSIDE OFFICES 1.54 10. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 1.56 11. MAN LISTENING TO PRESS CONFERENCE 1.59 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MDC LEADER MORGAN TSVANGIRAI SAYING: "The executive of the MDC has met and came to an unequivocal conclusion that these elections cannot be accepted as a true reflection of the people of Zimbabwe's will. The election was deemed fraudulent." 2.16 13. SCU: JOURNALISTS AT PRESSER 2.20 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MDC LEADER MORGAN TSVANGIRAI SAYING: "What Zimbabwe needs is, is not this continued repression but a new Zimbabwe which is going to provide them with the hope for food and jobs." 2.29 15. SCU: JOURNALISTS AT PRESSER 2.33 (BN12) BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE (APRIL 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 16. ARCHBISHOP OF BULAWAYO PIUS NCUBE WALKING INTO CHURCH 2.39 17. (SOUNDBITE)(English) ARCHBISHOP OF BULAWAYO PIUS NCUBE SAYING: "It means a continuing of a bad economy. It means we continue to be isolated internationally, isolated and lack of of investment. Lawlessness continues since ZANU-PF is a lawless party, it doesn't observe law -- they only observe what conforms to them. Mugabe continues to just dominate and dictate over us. Thats what it means for Zimbabweans. Especially its bad, this year is a drought year." 3.15 18. ARCHBISHOP NCUBE IN CHURCH 3.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 17th April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HARARE, ZIMBABWE
- Country: Zimbabwe
- Reuters ID: LVADSUSVZ9BJQZAQD6H390OWQP8K
- Story Text: Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party wins elections in
Zimbabwe while the opposition rejects result
President Robert Mugabe's party scored an
overwhelming win in Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on
Saturday (April 2), taking the two-thirds majority it needs
to ram through constitutional changes at will.
The opposition rejected the result and joined Western
governments in denouncing the vote as a fraud, saying
Mugabe had stolen his third election in five years. "We
have rejected the results because we don't believe they
reflect the will of the people," said Morgan Tsvangirai,
who leads the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
But Mugabe said the opposition was only trying to keep
up appearances in the face of defeat.
"It's a political statement they (MDC) have to make in
the face of defeat. Of course having experienced this
defeat they must say something to their people to arouse
their confidence but it's a confidence creating statement,
they don't mean it. How can we ever reverse what the people
have said? It's impossible."
Police warned the opposition they would crush any
violent reaction to Mugabe's victory. Final results showed
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party won 78 of 120 contested seats
against 41 for the MDC. One independent, purged former
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, was also elected.
"Mass action is not the prerogative of one side, mass
action. We have two or three weapons. We can also raise
mass actions against their mass action and there would be
naturally a conflict. A serious conflict. Two, law and
order instruments will be used to prevent any mass action
that is likely to lead to lawlessness in the country,"
added Mugabe.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai stood by his
statement that the elections were tainted by widespread
fraud.
"The executive of the MDC has met and came to an
unequivocal conclusion that these elections cannot be
accepted as a true reflection of the people of Zimbabwe's
will.The election was deemed fraudulent," he said.
Mugabe, who has ruled for 25 years, by law will appoint
30 additional members of the 150-seat legislature, boosting
ZANU-PF's majority. The MDC, once seen as the most potent
challenge to Mugabe since independence from Britain in
1980, was expected to post a net loss of as many as 10
seats. Tsvangirai has said the election was marked by
fraud, fear and intimidation -- an assessment echoed by the
United States, Britain and other Western nations.
Many Zimbabweans began reflecting on how the country
will fair under the continuing leadership of Mugabe.
The Archbishop Of Bulawayo Pius Ncube said the future
looked grim.
"It means a continuing of a bad economy. It means we
continue to be isolated internationally, isolated and lack
of of investment. Lawlessness continues since ZANU-PF is a
lawless party, it doesn't observe law -- they only observe
what conforms to them. Mugabe continues to just dominate
and dictate over us. Thats what it means for Zimbabweans.
Especially its bad, this year is a drought year," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Mugabe
of policies "designed to repress, crush and otherwise
stifle expressions of differences in Zimbabwe." Tsvangirai,
who has accused Mugabe, 81, of rigging previous elections
in 2000 and 2002, hinted on Friday (April 1) his supporters
may take their anger to the streets rather than attempt to
fight the result in court. On Saturday, the opposition
leader said strategy was still being discussed. "We will
consult with the people on a plan to seek redress," he told
a news conference.
Analysts say the party could use its majority to push
through constitutional changes to protect Mugabe from the
kind of prosecutions that have plagued some other African
leaders when they stepped down. Mugabe is due to retire in
2008. Critics accuse Mugabe of ruining once-prosperous
Zimbabwe by a chaotic seizure of white farms for landless
blacks and economic mismanagement which has brought huge
inflation, unemployment and food and fuel shortages. Mugabe
blames his Western critics for sabotaging the economy and
had demanded an overwhelming ZANU-PF victory to see off the
challenge from the MDC, which he pillories as a British
puppet.
The MDC says the electoral process favoured ZANU-PF and
the 5.78 million-strong voting roll was inflated with 1
million "ghost voters". It also questioned why tens of
thousands of people were turned away from polling stations.
Regional observers from the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), who had been expected to give the poll a
clean bill of health, expressed concerns over the thwarted
voters. "It is still not clear to us exactly how many
people were affected in this way as well as the reason for
them not being able to cast their votes," the group said.
South Africa gave the election an important vote of
confidence on Saturday when its observer team said the
polls largely conformed with regional democratic
guidelines. "It is the view of the mission that the 2005
parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe reflect the will of the
people," said Labour Minister Membathisis Mdladlana, who
led Pretoria's 50-member team of observers. Campaigning and
voting were generally free of the violence
that marred parliamentary polls in 2000 and Mugabe's
re-election in 2002. The conduct of those votes is at the
root of Mugabe's international isolation.
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