Zimbabwe will not invite election observers from Western countries to monitor a presidential run-off unless they remove sanctions, state media said on Monday. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Zimbabwe would not bow to pressure to invite election monitors from Western countries and the United Nations.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader looked set on Sunday to return home from South Africa to face Robert Mugabe in a presidential run-off poll despite a risk of "more violence, more gloom, more betrayal". Morgan Tsvangirai had previously refused to say whether he would take part in the run-off, even though failure to do so would have handed victory to Mugabe.
The leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition group said on Saturday he would contest a run-off against Robert Mugabe after disputed elections on March 29. But Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he would only participate in the run-off if international observers and media had full access to ensure the poll is free and fair.
Zimbabwe’s electoral commission was to present candidates with initial results from a March 29 poll on Thursday, in a move that could force President Robert Mugabe into a run-off against his arch rival. More than a month after polling day, the four candidates who stood for president on March 29 have been asked to attend a verification meeting at noon.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday Africa must send a mission to Zimbabwe to end a delay in issuing election results, which he called unacceptable. Zuma has made several forthright comments on the election delay, distancing himself from South African President Thabo Mbeki, the regional mediator.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader pushed the United Nations on Monday to intervene to end his country’s election crisis as President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party flatly denied it was behind a rise in post-poll violence. Meanwhile, the row over a partial recount of the March 29 poll rumbled on.
Correspondence published by Zimbabwe’s state media that was purported to be between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chief Morgan Tsvangirai is a hoax, the United Kingdom embassy said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe’s government on Thursday accused opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, saying he had plotted with former colonial power Britain to bring about regime change. It cited alleged correspondence between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tsvangirai.
An emergency summit of Southern African leaders on Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis opened on Saturday with a plea from its chairperson not to turn a blind eye, but President Robert Mugabe stayed away. Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa told Southern African Development Community leaders that doing nothing was not an option.
Zimbabwe raised doubts on Friday over whether President Robert Mugabe would attend an emergency regional summit on the weekend to discuss deepening concern over a post-election deadlock in the country. Officials had earlier said Mugabe was expected to attend the Lusaka summit on Saturday of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community.
A judge on Wednesday wrapped up hearing an opposition petition demanding the immediate release of Zimbabwe’s presidential election results and said he would deliver his judgement on Monday. ”Conscious of the urgency of the matter, I should be ready for a judgement on Monday afternoon,” Justice Tendai Uchena told the High Court in Harare.
White-owned farms are again under siege in Zimbabwe, but while critics deride Robert Mugabe’s land-reform programme as shambolic and economically fatal, it could yet help him cling to power. President Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF is playing on the emotive issues of land and race to try to discredit rival Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of a possible run-off.
Zimbabwe’s war veterans have launched fresh invasions of the country’s few remaining white-owned farms as President Robert Mugabe appears to be falling back on the tested tactics of violence and raising racial tensions, in preparation for a run-off vote in the presidential election.
Zimbabwe sunk deeper into political stalemate on Sunday, with the opposition going to court to get election results released and President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party asking for a delay. Tensions between the two sides have risen sharply since the elections last weekend, fuelled by opposition suspicions Mugabe is preparing to rig the outcome.
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party were to announce victory on Monday in the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections, according to unofficial results leaked from the Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission command centres.
Zimbabwe’s opposition was level with President Robert Mugabe’s party and two of his ministers lost their seats on Monday as election results trickled out, but counting delays fuelled suspicions of rigging. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said unofficial tallies showed Morgan Tsvangirai had 60% of the presidential vote.
Zimbabwe’s justice minister lost his seat on Monday and first election results showed the opposition level with President Robert Mugabe’s party, but delays to most results fuelled opposition suspicions of vote rigging. Results of the parliamentary election began trickling out on Monday, 36 hours after polls closed.
Zimbabwe’s justice minister has dismissed as ”utter rubbish” claims by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that the political playing field is uneven ahead of national polls. Zimbabweans are preparing to elect a new president, Parliament and local councillors on March 29, but the MDC has expressed fears of vote rigging.
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/ 28 January 2008
The Zimbabwe government on Monday slapped down opposition demands for a new constitution to be adopted before a March general election, saying it would only be put to a referendum after the polls. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the state-run <i>Herald</i> newspaper that "the state was not in a hurry to craft a new constitution".
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/ 14 January 2008
Zimbabwe will prohibit foreign observers deemed to be biased from overseeing its upcoming presidential and legislative elections, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Monday. ”Our stance on foreign observers is that they are not a legal requirement,” Chinamasa was quoted as saying by the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
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/ 15 December 2007
President Robert Mugabe has suspended Zimbabwe’s attorney general while he is investigated on charges of abusing his office, state radio reported on Saturday. Sobusa Gula-Ndebele was last month briefly detained by police over allegations he promised to help a fugitive banker who had fled the country. Gula-Ndebele denies the accusations.
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/ 20 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s Parliament on Thursday passed a compromise Bill giving veteran President Robert Mugabe room to pick a successor after the measure was watered down to curb his powers to appoint legislators. The constitutional Bill will enable Parliament to choose a successor if an incumbent president fails to finish his term.
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/ 18 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party reached an agreement on Tuesday with the government on the adoption of a Bill that paves the way for joint presidential and legislative elections next year. In a surprise move announced in Parliament, senior members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said they would not try to block legislation to amend the Constitution.
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/ 12 September 2007
President Robert Mugabe’s government introduced a Bill to Parliament on Wednesday that would give the leader room to choose a successor if he were to retire. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa introduced the Bill in Parliament and said debate on the proposed law would start on Tuesday.
If China steps into America’s hegemonic shoes, how will it affect our continent, asks Kelly Rosenthal.