Mugabe says he is wide awake for polls

 


Author:     AP [ TUESDAY, MARCH 05, 2002 3:19:14 PM ]

  HARARE, Zimbabwe: A defiant President Robert Mugabe said his 
party had lost ground to the opposition through complacency, but 
would win this weekend's presidential elections anyway, state 
radio reported on Tuesday.

  "We are now wide awake," Mugabe said at a rally Monday. "We 
won't let the (Movement for Democratic Change) win."

  Mugabe described the opposition as "a donkey being controlled by 
the British," the former colonial power.

  The fledgling MDC won 57 of 120 elected seats in June 2000 
parliamentary elections as Mugabe's popularity plunged amid 
economic devastation and chaos.

  The U.S. State Department released a human rights report on 
Zimbabwe Monday that accused the government of extrajudicial 
killings, undermining the independence of the judiciary and 
waging a "systematic campaign of violence targeting supporters 
and potential supporters of the opposition."

  Security forces tortured opponents, ruling party militants 
abducted people, and police arrested opposition supporters who 
were themselves the victims of crimes. Freedom of the press and 
freedom of assembly were also severely restricted, the report 
said.

  In his speech on Monday, Mugabe thanked African leaders for 
refusing to buckle to pressure to suspend Zimbabwe from the 
Commonwealth of Britain and its former territories at a summit 
of the 54-nation grouping in Australia.

  Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand demanded the 
suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth to protest 
state-sponsored violence and human rights abuses against the 
opposition.

  Mugabe said the decision to defer the possible suspension until 
Commonwealth observers report back on the election was "a 
victory against Britain's attempts to introduce a new form of 
apartheid" to serve Western interests in developing countries.

  Tendai Biti, the MDC's foreign affairs spokesman, said Mugabe 
was trying to hide his policies of violence and intimidation 
behind his rift with Britain.

  "It is not a Zimbabwe-Britain crisis. Our people are being 
brutalised by fellow black Zimbabweans. This is the issue we 
would want our African brothers to have understood," he said.

  African leaders closed ranks at the Commonwealth summit out of 
fear for their own power, he said.

  "The problems of human rights and good governance are mirrored 
in their countries," Biti said.

  The state-run Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said 
Tuesday British Prime Minister Tony Blair had showed personal 
arrogance, an obsession with Mugabe and "the shallowness of his 
commitment to democracy."

  The election on Saturday and Sunday presents the strongest-ever 
challenge to Mugabe's rule.

  The opposition accuses the government of using violence, 
intimidation and new security laws to cow its voters and to 
prevent it from effectively campaigning.

  Foreign diplomats based in Harare said Monday police prevented 
them from finishing a meeting on Monday with MDC leader Morgan 
Tsvangirai.

  Police declared the meeting with about 35 ambassadors and 
members of their staffs illegal under new security laws 
requiring police permission for political gatherings. Tsvangirai 
called the meeting to discuss food shortages gripping Zimbabwe 
and measures his party was considering to combat them, diplomats 
said.

  
Police had no immediate comment.

  State radio also reported Monday that three opposition lawmakers 
tried to bribe Zimbabwe's air force commander to help calm 
security forces if Mugabe were removed. Opposition officials 
said the claim was part of a government smear campaign.

  Foreign governments have pressed Mugabe to restore the rule of 
law. The president promised he would, but the violence has 
escalated, with dozens killed in February.



Copyright @ 2001 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. |