United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke on Friday with African leaders and former United Nations chief Kofi Annan for their insight into how to end Zimbabwe’s election crisis, her spokesperson said. Rice spoke to Botswana President Ian Khama, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
Levels of organised violence and torture have escalated dramatically in the last fortnight in Zimbabwe amid mounting tensions over the country’s disputed elections, a coalition of doctors said on Friday. ”Since the last report on April 25, our members have reported a dramatic escalation in incidents of organised violence,” the coalition said.
Regional mediator and South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday for talks on the country’s disputed elections ahead of a possible run-off that has raised concerns of further violence. The South African leader’s ”quiet diplomacy” approach towards the crisis in Zimbabwe has triggered criticism at home and abroad.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will not participate in a presidential run-off against Robert Mugabe, a top party official said on Thursday, after reports of escalating violence deepened a post-election crisis. The MDC believes its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the outright majority in the March 29 election.
The editor of an independent newspaper and a prominent human rights lawyer have been arrested, and Zimbabwe’s largest farm union said on Thursday that 40Â 000 farm workers have been displaced in post-election violence. Davison Maruziva, editor of the Standard newspaper, was taken by police from the newspaper’s offices on Thursday.
Pressure mounted on the Zimbabwe government on Thursday to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential election run-off amid fresh claims that pro-government militias were instilling terror in communities in the countryside. Meanwhile, there was still no word on when a second round should take place.
A presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe cannot take place given the current levels of violence, the head of a South African contingent of regional election observers said on Wednesday. ”We have seen it, there are people in hospital who said they have been tortured, you have seen pictures,” Kingsley Mamabolo told reporters.
A high-ranking delegation of Southern African ministers met Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe on Wednesday to discuss the country’s political impasse ahead of a pending presidential run-off, state media reported. The delegation was headed by Angolan Foreign Minister Jose Joao Bernardo Miranda.
Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have contested half the results of the March 29 parliamentary election, state media said on Wednesday, extending a stalemate that has triggered widespread violence.
A Chinese ship loaded with arms destined for Zimbabwe has left Luanda, Angola, after unloading construction material, two trade union federations said on Tuesday. No attempt was made to unload any armaments, and the An Yue Jiang sailed after taking on fuel and food.
An independent Zimbabwean election monitoring group expressed doubt on Tuesday over the credibility of the results of the presidential election and accused the ruling Zanu-PF party of attacking observers. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network was the first observer group to publicly question the results.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Tuesday that four more of its members had been killed by supporters of President Robert Mugabe in nearly a month of post-election violence that is being investigated by South African officials.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed alarm at reports of rising violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe and said he was consulting with African leaders on how to help resolve the country’s election crisis. "I am deeply concerned at reports of rising levels of violence and intimidation" in Zimbabwe, he told reporters.
Zimbabwe’s opposition on Monday mulled whether to contest a presidential election run-off after winning the first round as President Robert Mugabe’s camp began gearing up for the ballot. "We are still putting things together and when we are ready, we will get the press informed," George Sibotshiwe, a spokesperson for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, said.
As Zimbabwe’s opposition mulls its options over whether to contest a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe, refugees in South Africa continue to suffer at the hands of the South African police. On April 25, policemen raided a block of flats in Pageview, west of the city-centre, which is home to 15 Zimbabwean refugees.
Zimbabwe’s ruling party has said that a second round of presidential elections could be delayed by up to a year in a move that would extend Robert Mugabe’s rule even though he admits to having lost the first round of voting five weeks ago. The election commission is expected to meet soon to set a date for the run-off vote between Mugabe and the opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwe’s election commission on Friday confirmed that President Robert Mugabe lost the election held five weeks ago but that his opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, fell below the 50% of the vote required to avoid a run-off ballot between the two later this month.
Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe accepted that the opposition’s Morgan Tsvangirai won more votes in the presidential election and will contest a run-off in a political battle that has raised fears of bloodshed. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) cried foul after Zimbabwe’s electoral body announced on Friday that he had won 47,9% of the vote
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader defeated President Robert Mugabe in the presidential election but faces a run-off vote after he failed to win an outright majority, the electoral body said on Friday. Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47,9% of the vote on March 29 and Mugabe took 43,2%, said the chief elections officer.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Friday it would reject results of a presidential election that would force a run-off against veteran ruler Robert Mugabe. Official data showed the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai won 47,9% of the vote, beating Mugabe with 43,2%, but not enough to escape a second round contest with Mugabe.
President Thabo Mbeki was to brief a group of African religious leaders on the situation in Zimbabwe on Friday, his spokesperson said. The briefing would focus on his mediation efforts, but it ”may touch on current issues”, said Mukoni Ratshitanga.
Zimbabwe’s opposition on Friday disputed results of a March 29 presidential election released by electoral officials, saying opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off. The official data showed Tsvangirai had 47,9% of the vote, beating President Robert Mugabe with 43,2%, but short of the majority needed to avoid a run-off ballot.
The United States on Thursday urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to "call off his dogs" who are allegedly attacking opposition supporters and to release the presidential election results. State Department deputy spokesperson Tom Casey questioned how credible the results of the March 29 election could be when they have yet to be released.
Officials began verifying the results from Zimbabwe’s March 29 presidential election on Thursday, bringing a step closer the release of the long delayed vote count, the electoral commission said. Senior government sources say opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has beaten President Robert Mugabe but not by an outright majority.
It is now over a month since Zimbabwe’s elections on March 29, and finally the country’s electoral commission has convened a meeting to ensure that all candidates are happy with the figures.
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.
Zimbabweans are bracing for a bloody second round of elections after government sources on Wednesday said a recount of the presidential vote held a month ago showed that President Robert Mugabe lost to Morgan Tsvangirai, but that neither won an outright majority.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, winning 47% of the vote against the president’s 43%, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing senior government sources. One source, declining to be named, told Reuters a run-off would be needed because Tsvangirai did not win enough votes for an outright victory.
The Zimbabwe government savoured a rare diplomatic victory on Wednesday after the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on how to respond to the country’s post-election crisis. Western countries such as former colonial power Britain had been trying to steer the council to adopt a common strategy on the situation in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s army is supplying militants with weapons to intimidate voters to ensure that Robert Mugabe wins a possible run-off in the presidential election, Human Rights Watch said. In a statement released late on Tuesday, it said military forces had equipped war veterans with weapons and trucks to scare Zimbabweans into backing Mugabe.
Zimbabwe’s main rights group accused the government on Tuesday of unleashing violence to help President Robert Mugabe cling to power as the wait for election results stretched into a second month. While the United Nations prepared to meet in New York to discuss the post-election crisis, Mugabe’s regime warned it would crack down on violence.
A month after Zimbabweans took to the polls to pick a president, the outcome of the vote is still not in sight as the United Nations prepared on Tuesday to discuss the Zimbabwe impasse. Suggestions by the country’s electoral body that results of the March 29 presidential vote could be out later this week have been met with scepticism.