Zimbabwe’s veteran President Robert Mugabe, accused of allowing attacks on his political opponents, appealed on Thursday to his supporters not to engage in violence in next year’s elections.
In a keynote address at his Zanu-PF conference in the capital, Harare, Mugabe also urged the party to remain united in the countdown to the parliamentary and presidential elections.
”We don’t want any violence during campaigns. Campaign peacefully,” said Mugabe, who is seeking a sixth term in office at the polls, expected in March.
His comments come amid efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between Zanu-PF and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, several of whose leaders were assaulted by members of Mugabe’s security forces earlier this year.
Parliamentary elections in 2000 and the presidential election in 2002 were marred by widespread violence that led Western observers to conclude the ballots were neither free nor fair.
Mugabe (83) has been the subject of a string of Western sanctions since 2002, and came under concerted attack at a weekend European Union-Africa summit over his record on human rights.
During the speech, he also told party members not to be distracted by internal divisions ahead of the polls. ”We want unity and less friction,” he told supporters.
”It’s not everyone who contests for candidature who succeeds,” he added in reference to internal party battles to be selected as Zanu-PF candidates for the elections.
”I want to check to ensure that candidates [in the primaries] are chosen properly. It’s a question of contest, and not everyone wins,” said Mugabe in a rare reference to divisions within his party.
”If you lose, don’t kick the ball out of the pitch in anger. Why join the team in the first place when you kick the ball out of the pitch and yet you can see the goalposts? We are for scoring goals, so we want real unity. Let’s keep together; let’s remain united.”
‘Do not interfere’
During the course of his speech, Mugabe also fired a fresh broadside at his Western critics, warning them not to interfere in his country and stating he would only accept involvement of African nations.
”They should not interfere in our internal affairs, in our regional affairs,” Mugabe said. ”We are an independent state. If we need any assistance, we have our own neighbours to turn to. We have SADC [the Southern African Development Community], the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the African Union.”
During the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon, Mugabe was accused by German Chancellor Angela Merkel of undermining the image of Africa and was also heavily criticised by the leaders of Denmark, Sweden and The Netherlands.
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe’s former colonial power Britain, boycotted the summit over the presence of Mugabe, who is normally banned from the EU for the alleged rigging of his 2002 re-election.
Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, criticised the British no-show, saying that dialogue would have been useful, if not welcome.
”We don’t desire to talk to them, but there is an issue between us and them. How do they expect the issue to be resolved?” Mugabe told thousands of party members.
Mugabe regularly blames Britain for the economic woes of Zimbabwe where annual inflation is now the highest in the world at nearly 8 000%.
He has demanded that Britain honours previous commitments to fund a programme of land redistribution and the scrapping of sanctions such as a travel ban, which is meant to only affect Mugabe and his inner circle.
Mugabe was speaking at the last Zanu-PF conference before next year’s general elections. He is expected to be confirmed as his party’s presidential candidate later in the conference. — Sapa-AFP