Mugabe Channels Gore
Robert Mugabe's party in Zimbabwe is resorting to calls for a recount after their apparent loss in last week's elections. This despite the fact that the official results have yet to be released some eight days after the election. Opposition figures are outraged over the developments.
The Movement for Democratic Change, which claims its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the March 29 presidential ballot outright, said it would not accept a recount, did not want a runoff and pressed ahead with legal attempts to force publication of the results.
"How do you have a vote recount for a result that has not been announced? That is ridiculous," said opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa.
He accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of vote fraud, saying that police have told opposition leaders that the ruling party has been tampering with ballots since early last week.
"These claims are totally unfounded and they are only meant to justify ZANU-PF's rigging," he said.
The ruling party cited "errors and miscalculations in the compilation of the poll result" and asked the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to defer announcement of the presidential election results because of the "anomalies," the Sunday Mail reported.
The report came a day after Tsvangirai called on Mugabe to step down and accused the 84-year-old longtime ruler of plotting a campaign of violence to bolster his chances of winning an expected runoff.
The opposition fears that Mugabe will deploy troops and assorted thugs to intimidate people into voting for him in a runoff. Since Mugabe has a long history of doing exactly that, the fear is not unfounded.
World news | Gaius Sunday, 6 April , 2008
By Mwalimu Daudi, Sunday, 6 April , 2008 @ 8:32 am
Looks like Mugabe took my advice from an earlier thread. Blame it on me!
Still…I wonder how the ruling party managed to make so many "errors and miscalculations in the compilation of the poll result" that benefited the opposition. Gee - do you think they are lying?
I also wonder how many MSM journalists will eventually buy into ZANU-PF’s line. Considering the verbal gymnastics the MSM performed when confronted with the unabashed racism of Rev. Wright, I suspect more than a few will parrot Mugabe’s talking points.
By Straight8, Monday, 7 April , 2008 @ 5:34 am
Why isn’t Jimmah in Zimbabwe verifying Mugabe’s being robbed of his victory? Isn’t he a huge fan of dictators?
By Daniel, Monday, 7 April , 2008 @ 8:52 am
mugabe channels gore? really? c’mon brother - i love what you write, but that heading’s over the top and counter-productive. my $.02.keep up the good work.