Mugabe 'will fight to the last' in run-off presidential election battle

Published on Thursday 3 April 2008 22:23

ROBERT Mugabe was last night preparing for a bruising last battle against Morgan Tsvangirai in a likely second round of voting.

Bright Matonga, the deputy information minister, said Mr Mugabe would "fight to the last", shattering hopes that the 84-year-old dictator would agree to step down.

Mr Mugabe is set to hold a crucial meeting with his Soviet-style politburo in Harare this morning to plan for a probable run-off later this month.

In a chilling warning to opposition supporters, Mr Matonga said his Zanu-PF party would muster all its forces to defeat Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

He added: "We only applied 25 per cent of our energy into this campaign. (The run-off] is when we are going to unleash the other 75 per cent."

Zimbabwe's state electoral commission released no results for presidential and senate elections yesterday, fuelling mounting impatience. However, it was confirmed Mr Mugabe had lost control over parliament for the first time since independence.

Final results for parliamentary polls showed Zanu-PF won 97 seats, with 109 for the combined factions of the MDC.

The independent Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network predicts neither Mr Tsvangirai nor Mr Mugabe will win the necessary "50 per cent plus one vote" majority.

Huge green banners with a picture of the president have appeared in the centre of the capital. They bear his battle cry: "Our land, our sovereignty". Yesterday, Mr Mugabe appeared on state TV for the first time since the polls as he met election observers from the African Union.

Meanwhile, amid fears of unrest, an official addressed riot police in a Harare suburb. An MDC source said Mr Tsvangirai thought the situation was "precarious" and "asked everyone to keep their heads down".

The official Herald newspaper, traditionally Mr Mugabe's chief propaganda weapon, accused Mr Tsvangirai of "extorting" votes and urged Zimbabweans to "avoid aborting the revolution". The paper claimed white farmers had returned to Zimbabwe and were threatening to retake their farms.

"They are saying there could be war," said vendor Sam at a near-empty flea market. "We could lose everything."

EXPLOITED DIGNITY

THERE is a proverb in Zimbabwe that partly explains why people aren't running through the streets to get rid of Robert Mugabe.

It states: "When you're ploughing in the field and there's a tree stump, you plough round it."

Substitute the stump for Mr Mugabe and you see why he has held power for so long.

My Shona friends are politely horrified by my British tendency to "take the bull by the horns" if there's a problem.

"We don't like fighting," I've been told. They might moan quietly to each other, but mostly Zimbabweans work around their problems.

This isn't about strength, or a lack of it. It's about dignity, a dignity Mr Mugabe can exploit. Dignity does not involve running amok through the streets.

Memories of the brutal war for independence which ended less than three decades ago are still fresh. A middle-aged teacher from the east said in a hushed voice: "We don't want that again."

People occasionally protest. Opposition youths manage a few demonstrations, usually brutally put down. So does Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza). led by Jenni Williams.

Five days after polling, it's looking likely Mr Mugabe is digging in for a last battle. Zimbabweans talk of disappointment, suffering, even the possibility of a coalition government. No-one's told me yet they want to take up arms.