Messages From Zimbabwe

ZANU PF and MDC-T have filed a total of 105 election petitions, prompting Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku to appoint 17 more High Court judges to the Electoral Court to preside over the cases.

ZANU PF is challenging results in 53 constituencies while MDC-T is contesting those in 52 constituencies. The appointments, made in terms of Section 162 of the Electoral Act, bring to 20 the number of judges who will handle the election disputes.

Three judges - Justices Tendayi Uchena, Antonia Guvava and Nicholas Ndou - were appointed to the Electoral Court early this year. In a letter dated April 29, 2008 and copied to Judge President Rita Makarau and Master of the High Court Mr Charles Nyatanga, the Chief Justice said the appointments were made in terms of the country’s electoral laws. The appointments were also made in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and Justice Makarau in her capacity as the Judge President and would be effective from April 29, 2008 to April 29 2009.

Justice Makarau would also preside over some of the petitions. Mr Nyatanga confirmed the latest development saying the Judge President had scheduled a meeting with lawyers handling the petitions for 10am this Friday at the High Court. “All the lawyers who are dealing with election petitions (are invited) to attend the meeting where the procedure would be discussed with the Judge President chairing. “The JP (Judge President) is going to issue a practice directive on the procedures to be followed in dealing with the petitions,” he said. Mr Nyatanga said his office had received 105 petitions, which have to be determined within six months in terms of the Electoral Act.

He said both parties filed more or less an equal number of petitions challenging results of the concerned constituencies countrywide. In its petitions, ZANU PF will, among other issues, contend that MDC-T bribed election officials while the opposition party will argue that ZANU PF candidates and its supporters bought votes and interfered with the voting process.

In the synchronised presidential, parliamentary and council elections the opposition MDC-T won 99 seats against ZANU PF’s 97. The MDC got 10 seats. ZANU PF won the Senate while no absolute winner emerged in the presidential election, which now requires a run-off between President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai.

(Source)

The opposition candidate who bested Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe in the March presidential balloting is in no hurry to announce whether he will participate in a runoff election, his spokesman said Sunday. A day earlier, a spokesman for Morgan Tsvangirai said the opposition leader would make an announcement Sunday. “This is a historic decision. The party is still consulting,” spokesman George Sibotshiwe told CNN Sunday morning. “We need to ensure that the decision we make is a people’s decision. The date of the run off has not been set yet so there is no urgency to make an announcement.” A runoff is required under Zimbabwean law if neither candidate gets 50 percent plus one vote in an election. The African nation’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has refused to agree to a second round of voting, claiming its candidate already has enough votes to replace Mugabe.

The MDC says the initial tally of votes showed Tsvangirai garnering 50.3 percent of the vote in the initial tally from the March 29, before a verification of the numbers was done this week. That official tally was released Friday by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, showing that Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent of the vote compared to 43.2 percent for Mugabe. MDC Vice President Thokozani Khupe held a news conference Saturday after a meeting of top MDC officials, who she said agreed that a runoff was unnecessary. If they refuse to support a runoff, Mugabe will retain the office. “We need to be convinced that there is need for a runoff,” Khupe said. “The verification process was not done properly. In other words, there is a deadlock resulting from the (ZEC’s) failure to execute its duties as required by the law.” The Tsvangirai spokesman told CNN the candidate was consulting with political leaders in the region, in hopes they can convince Mugabe to step down. Tsvangirai also was traveling to Ghana to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

(Source)

Zimbabwe’s presidential poll results announced on Friday “lack credibility”, Britain’s Foreign Office said, adding that a second round could not be fair unless more international monitors were present.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was finally declared the winner of the March 29 vote but fell just short of toppling incumbent Robert Mugabe.

“The election results released five weeks after polling day lack credibility but it’s clear that at least 60 percent of the population voted for change in Zimbabwe,” a Foreign Office spokesperson told AFP.

“President Mugabe’s campaign of violence and intimidation, coupled with the arrest of 99 electoral commission officials in the last month, show exactly how (his ruling party) Zanu-PF would approach any second round.

“Without an immediate end to violence and the introduction of a wider range of international monitors and in much greater numbers than were present for the first, no second round could be free and fair.”

Nearly five weeks after polling day, Zimbabwe’s electoral commission announced that Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, had won 47.9% against 43.2% for the 84-year-old Mugabe and the pair will now face off in a run-off on a date yet to be announced.

A third candidate, former finance minister Simba Makoni, won 8.3% and now drops out of the contest.

(Source)

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, winning 47 percent of the vote against the president’s 43 percent, senior government sources said on Wednesday.

One source, declining to be named like the others, told Reuters a run-off would be needed because Tsvangirai did not win enough votes for an outright victory.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said he won the March 29 vote outright and accuses Mugabe - in power for 28 years - of delaying results to rig victory.

The standoff over the election has raised fears of widespread bloodshed in a country already battling to cope with economic meltdown.

The MDC said on Wednesday 20 of its members had been killed by pro-government militias in post-election violence and that soldiers had taken part in the attacks. “Only over the past two days five MDC activists have been killed,” it said.

The government has denied waging a violent campaign against the opposition and accuses the MDC of carrying out attacks.

Tsvangirai has said there is no need for a second round because he won outright but has also suggested he could take part if there were international observers led by the UN.

If Tsvangirai refused to take part in a run-off, Mugabe would be declared the winner, according to election rules.

The MDC leader, who has been touring Africa seeking support, says he is a prime target for Mugabe’s security forces but would return home when conditions were right.

The state-run Herald newspaper reported police wanted to question MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti for illegally declaring results and were concerned he was “urging and abetting political violence”. Biti is believed to be outside Zimbabwe.

Police have arrested 10 MDC activists on allegations of violence, kidnapping, attempted murder, the Herald reported.

There was no immediate comment from the Electoral Commission or opposition officials on the leaked result. The commission has invited candidates to start verifying the count from Thursday.

A top official in Mugabe’s ZANU PF party said: “Those figures are in line with the official figures and the MDC knows that the official tally is more or less around that but they have been inflating their numbers to claim a false victory.”

Zimbabweans had hoped the election would ease economic turmoil. Instead, severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages are worsening and there are no signs an inflation rate of 165,000 percent - the world’s highest - will decrease.

The MDC and human rights groups allege ZANU PF has embarked on a violent campaign to scare Zimbabweans into voting for Mugabe in a run-off, accusations the government denies.

Earlier, Mugabe’s government dismissed the United Nations’ first session on Zimbabwe’s election crisis as “sinister, racist and colonial” and said it would have no impact on the country.

At the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Western powers pressed for a UN mission or envoy to visit Zimbabwe.

“For us, this (UN session) is a sign of desperation by the British and their MDC puppets,” Zimbabwe’s Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told Reuters.

European countries, Latin American UN members and the United States supported sending an envoy, diplomats said, but South Africa, which currently holds the council presidency, said such a move was not a matter for the council.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has come under attack at home and abroad for his “softly, softly” approach to Zimbabwe.

Former colonial ruler Britain has been at the forefront of international pressure on Mugabe. It is seeking an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, an investigation into post-election violence, and has called for the election results to be issued immediately.

(Source)

We have won Zimbabwe. We have won.

No matter what happens in the days that follow, we need to remember that we have won.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is taking a long time to release the Presidential results and this is creating a sense of despondency around many in the country. We are getting worried messages from Zimbabweans and we are seeing and hearing people beginning to feel filled with despair.

We have won, so why has this not been announced?

Zimbabwe… this is Robert Mugabe we are dealing with, and his party is ZANU PF.

What did we expect?

Did we really expect that after our victory that Robert Mugabe would step forward like a gentleman and congratulate Morgan Tsvangirai before handing over power?

This is not what Robert Mugabe will do: he will struggle to the end; that is in his nature.

We need to set aside unrealistic expectations, and we must expect that we will witness all sorts of efforts from Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF to silence the will of the people.

None of this changes the fact that the majority of people in our country voted for change and nor does it change the fact that we have won.

Say no to despair!

In this uncertain period we must remember that dictators thrive on despair.

Mugabe and ZANU PF know that the longer ZEC delays with announcing the winner, the more likely it will be that people in our country will start to feel despondent. They know that people who are depressed and struggling with despair also find it hard to stand strong and to confront challenges.

The road to democracy is not a 100m sprint: it’s a marathon.

We are at that stage of the race where our limbs are tired and our muscles are aching and our body is telling us to slow down and maybe even give up. But this is the stage where our minds and our hearts have to take over and we need to keep focused and we need to stay strong and committed to seeing our will, loudly expressed through our votes on March 29th, come to fruit.

The next stage of the struggle we are all involved with now begins within ourselves. We have to stay strong. We must not be weakened by despair. We must not sink into doom and gloom. We must resist these impulses and remember a few truths.

Truth 1

For the first time in many, many years, it is us, the forces of democracy and freedom and of peace and justice, who have established the rules of the game. As a nation, with one clear voice, we voted for change. Those scores were placed on the doors for all of us to see with our own eyes. We know the results because we saw them.

Truth 2

For the first time in their 28 years of history, ZANU PF is obviously and publicly on the back foot. They are struggling to find a way to change the incontrovertible reality that they are finished. We are watching them respond to the simple truth that the people said ‘no more’. What we are witnessing now are the reactions of a dying regime dancing to tune we started to sing on March 29th.

Truth 3

If Mugabe had been victorious, the results would have been released a long time ago. We would have seen the inauguration ceremony already, and we would have seen the Heads of State of certain nations flying in to Zimbabwe to eat, drink and be merry at Mugabe’s party.

This has not happened; it has not happened, because Mugabe is not victorious and he knows it.

Truth 4

Yesterday an article appeared in the Sunday Mail (ZANU PF’s mouthpiece) telling us that ZANU PF is demanding that ZEC should defer announcing the results of the Presidential vote. The article said

“ZANU PF has requested the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to recount and audit all its electoral material relating to last week’s presidential election following revelations of errors and miscalculations in the compilation of the poll result. Consequent to the anomalies, the party has also requested that the commission defer the announcement of the presidential election result.”

Zimbabweans must note that a request for a recount of Presidential ballots before results are announced is unprocedural and premature. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have already issued a statement pointing out that this is wrong.

ZLHR say: “In relation to a presidential election, the Electoral Act, as amended, does not have any provision for a recount of the votes at all, and especially during the verification process.”

They go on to point out: “such a recount can only be requested once the declaration of due election has been made by the constituency elections officer or the senatorial constituency elections officer respectively” and that this request for a “recount must be done within 48 hours of the declaration of a candidate to be duly elected.”

This means that Robert Mugabe can only demand a recount of the votes after Morgan Tsvangirai has been declared the winner.

Robert Mugabe’s effort to subvert the electoral process must be seen for what it is: an attempt for him to avoid the humiliation of being publicly declared the loser.

Truth 5

The Sunday Mail article has also revealed Mugabe’s weakness and frailty.

Places ZANU PF cites as having votes miscounted includes Mberengwa East and South, “Where Cde Mugabe was deprived of 468 votes, one of his co-contestants, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC, had the benefit of 100.”

Zimbabweans must note that the figures under dispute are pathetically small - so small that in normal circumstances they would almost be considered irrelevant. To Robert Mugabe, however, they are very relevant because he is desperate and he is struggling to claw back the smallest number of votes.

Mugabe is not fighting for victory here; he is fighting for a run-off.

He is fighting for a run-off because he has lost the Presidential vote.

His fight now is for one last chance to try and steal a victory in a run-off. He knows he has been defeated, and so do we.

Truth 6

Last week The Herald reported that ZANU PF would be contesting results in 16 seats in the House of Assembly. Isn’t it very ironic, laughable even, that ZANU PF is trying to contest results?

We must remember that ZANU PF themselves have set a precedent when it comes to what happens when results are contested.

In 2000 the MDC contested 39 seats, but before the court could rule on these, ZANU PF insisted that those ZANU PF MPs who had been ‘elected’ (or had stolen) those seats, should be sworn in to the House of Assembly anyway.

So despite their claim that they will be contesting 16 seats, Zimbabweans can still expect to soon see a House of Assembly where ZANU PF is in the minority in accordance with the results announced by ZEC for the House of Assembly.

This means that the democratic opposition parties who have fought for justice for the people will be in the majority. This is a massive victory that marks a very big turning point in the history and future of Zimbabwe.

Truth 7

What many Zimbabweans don’t realise because they are cut off from communication with the rest of the world, is that the world is watching. We at Sokwanele know this because we are getting emails from the press, emails from people all over the world, and we have seen the traffic to our website and subscriptions to our newsletter increase exponentially.

This time the feedback we are getting is different.

In previous elections the world has watched Mugabe steal and cheat his way to victory. It has witnessed regional countries endorse victories in the face of overwhelming evidence that they were stolen.

The world’s reaction to those previous elections has been impotence; they have been left with a sense that there is nothing they can do in the face of what looks like yet another African cliché of misery and corruption - a tragedy that the region has allowed to take place.

For Zimbabweans, the world’s impotence has felt like a slap in the face, as if we have been abandoned to a life without justice, stripped of our basic human rights.

The difference on March 29th 2008 is that the world witnessed an old monster of a regime, one that appears to be a monolithic undefeatable force, be quietly overwhelmed at the ballot box.

We - ordinary Zimbabweans - did this despite every effort of the Mugabe regime to bias the election playing field in its favour; we did this despite years of abuse and violence; we did it despite the fact that we are poorer and hungrier and weaker than we have ever been.

The messages we are getting from outsiders around the world is that the dignity of the Zimbabwean people has impressed and moved those who are following our story.

Ours is no longer a typical African story of misery and failure.

It’s an incredible achievement, and almost a fairytale story of how the dignity and spirit of peace and justice can dominate the forces of evil. We did that, and the world is watching with barely suppressed excitement.

With all its heart, the international community wants to see us victorious; they are cheering for us from the sidelines and praying for us everywhere.

It may not feel like it, but we are not alone.

Truth 8

Zimbabweans have done this by themselves. No country anywhere in the world can claim that they created our victory.

We did it by ourselves.

Truth 9

We are on the brink of momentous change in our country. As individuals our lives will change for the better. Now is the time to defeat despair by daring to dream about what that change will be like.

Imagine what it will be like to have food on our shop shelves again, fuel at the petrol stations, power throughout the day, water that has been properly purified and comes out a tap when you switch it on.

Imagine education, jobs, and healthcare.

Imagine that when we go to visit South Africa it will be because we want to go on holiday rather than shopping trips to buy bread and soap and toilet paper.

Imagine our family and friends all coming home.

Above all, imagine a life without fear.

Truth 10

Zimbabwe is standing on the brink of being a beacon of hope for Africa.

With our dignity and adherence to democratic processes and values, and our rejection of violence as a route to change, we have shown the world and other African nations that the Zimbabwean people challenge the cliché that Africa is a continent plagued only by war and cruelty.

We have managed to resist all the violence that Mugabe has thrown at us, and time and time again we have turned to the ballot box.

When people turn to us and say ‘This is Africa‘; we can respond, ‘No it’s not, this is Zimbabwe‘.

We did it. Rather than feeling filled with despair, we should be feeling strong, and very, very proud.

What if there’s a run-off?

We do not want a run-off because we are the winners.

But it might happen, and if it does happen we must be prepared for it. We go into a run-off knowing that in a two-horse race there will be even more votes going towards Morgan Tsvangirai than in the House of Assembly results, where some of the votes went to Simba Makoni. Zimbabweans, excited by how far people at home have brought them will come home to add their votes to ours.

We all know, because we know Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF, that if we go to a run-off then it is likely to be a bumpy ride.

But we also know that Mugabe’s fight for power is just one fight on his hands. The bigger challenge he faces is the economy and poverty in our country. Robert Mugabe has no solutions to the problem of the economy.

He has passed laws which suppress the free press and control information in our country, making it hard for us to know the truth amidst all the rumours that circulate. But the one truth that Mugabe cannot hide from us is the reality that we are hungry, we have no jobs, we cannot school our children anymore, and we can barely survive from one day to the next.

To stand any chance of a victory, Robert Mugabe has to be able to tell us that he can make our lives better. Mugabe cannot offer us, the people, a solution to our problems unless he can secure support from the international community. All he can offer us is anti-western rhetoric and propaganda. This will not feed us, and it will not help us school our children. He cannot prevent us from knowing this as a fact.

To get the support of the international community, Robert Mugabe needs to be able to them that his victory is legitimate. Mugabe has relied on extreme violence in the past to secure his victories, but since the 2005 elections his propensity for violence has begun to try the patience of even the regional supporters.

Operation Murambatsvina, for example, brought condemnation from the UN onto the Zimbabwean government. This happened just after the 2005 elections. The images of our beaten and tortured civic and opposition leaders in March last year disgusted the world and shamed regional leaders. Those images showed the world what we in Zimbabwe already know; that the Mugabe regime can behave like violent thugs. Violence will not earn him the legitimacy he craves.

Nor will rigging and fraud: many in our country have worked hard to expose all of Mugabe’s tactics, and those people in the world who have the ability to help Zimbabwe recover now know his tricks.

If we go into a run-off, we will be prepared to continue exposing the rigging and the fraud and the violence.

We have the advantage this time that by delaying the results in the way he has, the world is already very suspicious of Mugabe’s motives and believe he is stalling and rigging. Their minds and ears are open and they are ready to listen to the truth from us.

What can we do as individuals?

1. Begin to break down the barriers between us

Mugabe has done his best to divide our nation, to turn us against each other and build suspicion and hatred. Now is the time to challenge those lies and begin to heal and build unity. Smile at those who you previously feared: the police and security forces. Show them in your behaviour and attitude that the future is positive and that we all stand to benefit.

2. Keep all of our spirits up

Do your best to remind those around you that just because ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe are thrashing about like a fish on a hook, it doesn’t mean that we have lost.

Support each other when we begin to let go of hope.

Never forget: we have won.

(Source: Sokwanele)

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) has been following with deep concern the electoral impasse that has gripped the Republic of Zimbabwe, following the March 29 , 2008 Presidential, Senatorial and National Assembly Elections. The Commission notes that while the results of the Senatorial and National Assembly elections have been released, the results of the Presidential Elections are still pending more than two weeks after the voting.

The African Commission notes that while the voting process took place in a peaceful and generally satisfactory manner, the tabulation/counting of the votes has encountered some difficulties, resulting in an unusual delay in the publication of the results.

The Commission wishes to state that this unusual and prolonged delay flies in the face of the SADC Principles on Elections and may constitute a violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in particular, Article 13, which provides for the right to vote and participate in government. The African Commission is of the view that the right to vote and participate in government is not limited to the casting of a ballot paper but invariably includes the individual right to know, and in a timely manner, the outcome of the voting exercise.

The African Commission is concerned that the delay in the publication of the results has the potential of undermining human rights and the rule of law and may compromise an already volatile and tense situation.

The African Commission calls therefore on the government of the Republic of Zimbabwe in particular, to provide the Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC), in an open and transparent manner and in accordance with the law, with all the necessary assistance it may require to enable it release the elections results immediately.

Where it becomes necessary for there to be a recount of the results, the African Commission wishes to call on all parties to work together and agree on an open and transparent formula for recount, which shall be done in accordance with the law, and in the presence of all the parties and election observers.

Finally, the African Commission avails its good offices to all the parties of the conflict, to work with the Zimbabwean people to find a lasting solution to this impasse.

(Source: via email)

Zimbabwe officials began recounting ballots for two dozen legislative seats on Saturday, an exercise which could overturn the opposition’s landmark victory. Human rights groups continued to report allegations of beatings and torture of opponents deemed to have voted “wrongly” in the elections which humiliated long-time President Robert Mugabe. Three weeks after the March 29 vote, Zimbabweans are still awaiting results of the presidential vote which Mr Mugabe is widely believed to have lost. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won the election outright and that the delays are aimed at brutalising and intimidating voters and engineering a run-off vote. In one contested constituency, the Herald newspaper reported a failed petrol bomb attack on offices where ballot boxes were stored. The state-controlled paper quoted police as saying that three attackers threw a home-made bomb at the Gutu district administration office in the early hours of Friday, but that it did not explode. It said the attackers drove away when challenged by a police officer.

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp, also state-owned, reported that the recount could take as long as three days. The ruling party is challenging the count in 23 constituencies, most won by the opposition, including in Mr Mugabe’s home district of Zvimba. An opposition attempt to stop the recount was blocked in court on Friday. Earlier, a Zimbabwe court rejected an opposition appeal for the immediate release of the presidential results. Courts are stacked with Mr Mugabe loyalists. In Zvimba, officials excluded reporters as the count began in the presence of officials from the ruling and opposition parties as well as local observers. Reporters saw no international observers at Zvimba, although The Herald newspaper quoted officials of the Southern African Development Community as saying it had sent 50 monitors.

(Source)

One of the authors of Zimbabwe’s new electoral laws says next week’s scheduled recount of 23 constituencies will be illegal. Welshman Ncube, one of two Movement for Democratic Change negotiators who spent much of last year locked into rewriting some of Zimbabwe’s contentious laws with ZANU PF during SA-mediated “dialogues”, yesterday said ZANU PF complaints were “concoctions after the fact, to be compliant with the law”. President Robert Mugabe is widely believed to have lost the presidential election by at least 7% and has delayed releasing the results for more than two weeks so that the vote can be “massaged”. However, Judge George Chiweshe, head of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), claimed yesterday that ZANU PF candidates in 23 constituencies had lodged complaints within the prescribed 48 hours after the polls closed, and therefore had not broken the Electoral Act. The results of the parliamentary elections were public by April 1, having been posted outside polling stations and collected by civic and opposition workers.

No statement was issued by the electoral commission about the complaints nor were competing candidates informed. This is the first anyone outside of the commission or ZANU PF has heard about the complaints. According to Judge Chiweshe, “we sat as a commission and considered them (the applications). “I can’t tell you when we did this at this moment… we received them, that is why we ordered recounts… we didn’t have to tell the world. Why should we? We are not obliged by law to do that. Are you calling me a liar?” he wanted to know. Ncube labelled Chiweshe a “blatant liar and a fraudster. The ZEC is acting in collusion with ZANU PF and if they think any of us will believe them when they are a gang of fraudsters, then they can go to hell. They are such brazen liars and they have had custody of the ballot boxes for more than two weeks. There is no guarantee that they didn’t go back and tamper with the ballot boxes, so the outcome of the recount is a foregone conclusion.” He said MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won a clear majority, which was why the results were not released.

MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart said: “We have asked for proof the complaints were submitted within the 48-hour period. The delay between the expiry of the 48-hour period and the writing of the letters of complaint by ZEC is inexplicable, unreasonable. The only inference one can draw from the delay is that the commission has connived with ZANU PF and therefore acted illegally. One would have expected the ZEC would immediately have notified all interested parties, but they took nine days to do so. “This is a brazen subversion of the Electoral Act.” Last week a senior policeman with at least 20 years’ experience told The Star that ballot boxes from a Midlands constituency, now due for a recount on Saturday, were brought into police headquarters in Harare on the morning of April 5. He said five or six young recruits took ballots for the presidential election, marked for Tsvangirai, and replaced them with duplicate ballots marked with an X for Mugabe. ZANU PF must win back nine seats to regain parliament.

(Source)

Comment: To answer Judge Chiweshe’s question, “Yes!”

Zimbabwe’s High Court on Sunday ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to refrain from recounting the results of March 29 elections because the presidential results have not yet been announced.

The court was approached on Sunday by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Sunday for an order forcing ZEC to suspend the recount.

The ruling followed an announcement by ZEC that it would carry out a partial recount of votes cast in the combined presidential, parliamentary and local elections - despite the presidential results not having been released.

“The judge found it not just illegal but grossly unreasonable to order a recount before the result is out. The law is clear about when the recount is done. A candidate requests for a recount within 48 hours after the result has been declared,” MDC lawyer Selby Hwacha told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Another court application

The high court is also considering a separate application by the MDC for a court order forcing ZEC to release the presidential results. A ruling in that case was expected on Monday.

ZEC announced on Sunday it would recount votes cast in 23 out of 210 constituencies - at the instigation of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party - citing “reasonable grounds” to suspect votes were miscounted in a way that could affect the outcome.

The MDC has said it will not accept a vote recount.

“We will not accept any recount because for us that is accepting rigged results. ZEC are in custody of the ballot boxes for two weeks and heavens know what they have done to the ballot papers. They might have stuffed them with their votes,” MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said.

Zanu-PF is accusing the MDC of vote buying and bribing ZEC officials to inflate its vote after losing its majority in the 210-seat House of Assembly to Morgan Tsvangirai’s party - allegations the MDC rejects.

In the presidential vote the MDC has pre-emptively claimed victory for its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Zanu-PF says neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai won outright and is gearing up for a runoff.

Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Sunday called on ZEC to release the remaining results “expeditiously.”

(Source)

In the first sign of a political denouement to the Zimbabwe crisis, southern African leaders were early this morning putting together proposals for a unity government. But it remained unclear whether President Robert Mugabe had been consulted. Fifteen days after the Zimbabwean elections - amid rising tension as the results of the presidential poll remained unpublished - the leaders of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community began talks early this morning with former Zimbabwean finance minister Simba Makoni. The regional leaders are known to favour Makoni, 51, as a successor to 84-year-old Mugabe because he too comes from

Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party, which has been in power since the end of white rule in 1980.

Moments before the leaders began talks with Makoni - who ran as an independent in the presidential elections and is believed to have finished third - the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, left the talks abruptly with his delegation. “As far as we are concerned, the talks are finished for us. Everything regarding Morgan has been discussed,” said MDC spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo as the delegation sped away. The MDC said it would explain its position at a later press conference. In the early hours of this morning, the heads-of-state meeting appeared deadlocked in its attempts to draft a final communiqué. Presidents and their delegations were tight-lipped as they walked between meeting rooms in the Mulungushi conference centre. Only Tsvangirai’s abrupt departure provided a clue that the MDC leader - who claims to have won the presidential poll outright, with 50.3 per cent of the vote - had been sidelined by the regional leaders.

Earlier yesterday, South African president Thabo Mbeki called on Mugabe in Harare after the Zimbabwean president refused to attend the Lusaka talks. It is unclear to what extent he was consulted by Mbeki about the prospect of a unity government, nor whether he was telephoned during yesterday’s talks. Observers said a unity government could take many forms in Zimbabwe and that the positions of Deputy President and Prime Minister could be reinstated as part of such a structure. ‘SADC leaders have always favoured Makoni because he provides a way of salvaging Zanu PF,’ said one Western diplomat. The developments in Lusaka came as Zimbabwean state media announced a recount of presidential ballots. Diplomats in Lusaka said the delay in releasing election results had - from the start - simply been a ploy for buying time to negotiate a transition.

Earlier yesterday, Western diplomats had been shocked by Mbeki’s statement, at the end of his visit to Harare, that ‘there is no crisis in Zimbabwe‘. He was filmed holding hands with Mugabe on the tarmac of Harare airport, where the Zimbabwean leader proclaimed that SADC had been ‘hijacked’ by Britain in its bid to destroy the country. The proposal to put in place a form of unity government to oversee the end of Mugabe’s 28-year reign marks a diplomatic breakthrough for SADC. Seven months ago, at another summit on Zimbabwe in Lusaka, the region’s leaders gave Mugabe a standing ovation. But the regional impact of the economic decline in Zimbabwe has now become untenable for SADC, many of whose governments now come from a grassroots democratic base, rather than being products of former liberation movements.

(Source)

Comment: You have got to be kidding! Morgan Tsvangirai has being sidelined - having won the Presidential election? And to have the person that came third in that election take over as Mugabe’s preferred successor?

So the votes of the Zimbabwean people mean nothing?

The Presidential election would effectively have been stolen from Tsvangirai, whilst the recount by the ZEC will ensure that the majority won by the MDC in Parliament is reworked…

In other country’s in the world would be imprisonned for such theft!

‘debvhu