<http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/print.cfm?id=354092005&referringtemplate=http%3A%2F%2Fthescotsman%2Escotsman%2Ecom%2Finternational%2Ecfm&referringquerystring=id%3D354092005>
The Scotsman Mon 4 Apr 2005 show images Robert Mugabe: Hand-picked observers gave the president their endorsement. Picture: Getty Images Mugabe's opponents call for re-run JANE FIELDS IN HARARE ZIMBABWE'S opposition leaders yesterday demanded a rerun of last week's parliamentary elections under a new constitution, citing massive inconsistencies in the results. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said: "We make the fundamental call for a fresh election under a completely different constitutional dispensation." Mr Tsvangirai claimed that the MDC had won 94 seats, more than double the 41 announced by the electoral commission. The final results from Thursday's poll gave Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party 78 seats. An independent candidate, the former information minister Jonathan Moyo, took one seat. With the 30 seats Mr Mugabe is allowed to appoint personally to the 150-member parliament, the president looked to have gained well over a two-thirds majority. However, Mr Tsvangirai said that his party "categorically rejected" the results. The opposition maintains that Mr Mugabe has cheated his way to victory for a third time in five years, following disputed victories in polls in 2000 and 2002. African observer missions this weekend rushed to endorse Zimbabwe's "peaceful" polls, however, dealing a further blow to the MDC. Mr Tsvangirai complained massive rigging was "hidden behind the benignity of many polling stations". He said the election had been stolen by the use of militias, the army, police and traditional leaders loyal to the president - some of whom are said to have threatened MDC supporters with eviction. Opposition polling agents had been chased away from polling stations, allowing ZANU-PF officials to stuff ballot boxes, he said. A report in the privately-owned Standard newspaper yesterday claimed Mr Tsvangirai was told by senior officials from the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) on Saturday that his party actually won in more than 40 constituencies where ZANU-PF claimed victory. Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary general, said the party wanted elections under a completely new constitution because "there is no point in having elections under the current legal dispensation". "ZANU-PF bureaucracy is responsible for rigging elections," he said, ruling out the possibility of holding by- elections in disputed constituencies. "A dictatorship cannot run democratic elections." The opposition's call for fresh polls came as African observers rubber-stamped Mr Mugabe's victory, just as the MDC had feared they would. "We are saying that this election was free," said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South Africa's minerals and energy development minister and the head of the observer mission from the 13-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) grouping. "The process was credible. It reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe," added Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka. Observers from Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique all said they shared the views of the SADC team. Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said investigations into allegations of massive poll fraud raised by the MDC were "outside her mandate", state-run ZBC radio reported. The observer teams - all handpicked by Mr Mugabe - enjoyed a cosy relationship with the Zimbabwean government during their short stay in the country. Mr Mugabe expressed his "gratitude and appreciation" towards the teams on Saturday, before their final reports on the elections were issued. They "joined us in ensuring our elections would be a success," said the Zimbabwean president. There were a few dissenting voices. Dianne Kohler, a member of the SADC observer team, dissociated herself from her mission's endorsement of the elections. "This sham of an election has been one of the most cynical electoral frauds perpetrated on the international community in electoral history," she said. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' ------------------------ Yahoo! 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