Tsvangirai claims Zimbabwe presidency, wants Mugabe talks
HARARE (AFP) — Zimbabwe opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday claimed outright victory in the presidential elections and warned that Robert Mugabe's ruling party would resort to violence to cling to power.
"We won the election without a need for a run-off," Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told a press conference, giving his first personal declaration of victory.
There has still been no official announcement of the result a week after Saturday's polls but the ruling ZANU-PF declared Friday there would be a run-off and that Mugabe would stand and defeat Tsvangirai.
"In the run-off, violence will be a new weapon to reverse the people's victory," Tsvangirai warned. "ZANU-PF is preparing a war against the people of Zimbabwe such as we witnessed in 2000" when Mugabe failed to win backing in a referendum for a broadening of his powers.
Shortly after that result, Mugabe loyalists embarked on a series of invasions of white-owned farms after accusing the farmers of persuading their workers to vote against the president's proposals.
Several dozen people were killed in the ensuing violence while thousands of farmers and their workers were forced to flee.
Tsvangirai, who suffered head injuries in an attack by Mugabe's security forces last year, also extended an olive branch to his old rival by saying he would guarantee his future safety and called for dialogue.
"I am calling on President Mugabe to begin a dialogue with me, to begin the process of a peaceful, orderly and democratic transition," Tsvangirai said.
"In making this call, I believe it is in the interests of the people and the future of this country not to create conditions of anxiety and instability.
"I want to say to President Robert Mugabe: 'Please rest your mind, the new Zimbabwe guarantees your safety'."
Tsvangirai, whose party has already claimed he cleared the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off, poured scorn on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for its failure to declare the outcome.
"This is a totally unacceptable situation in delaying the release of the results," said Tsvangirai.
Mugabe, who has overseen his country's economic ruin since he took power at independence 28 years ago, suffered the worst setback of his long rule at last Saturday's elections when his party lost control of parliament.
But he is in no mood for retirement and won backing from his ZANU-PF party on Friday to fight a run-off against his MDC rival if neither is found to have won over 50 percent in the first round of a simultaneous presidential election.
In a politburo meeting on Friday, ZANU-PF not only endorsed Mugabe to stand in a run-off but also demanded a recount be held in at least 16 parliamentary constituencies, potentially enough to overturn its initial defeat.
With tensions rising between the government and opposition, long-time mediator Thabo Mbeki, the president of neighbouring South Africa, called for patience from all sides.
"I think there is time to wait, let's see the outcome of the election results," Mbeki told reporters in London after meeting Gordon Brown, the prime minister of former colonial power Britain.
"If there is a re-run of the presidential election, let's see what comes out of that. I think that is the correct way to go," he said.
While ZANU-PF is weighing its legal options over the parliamentary vote, the MDC tried Saturday topersuade the high court to hear its application for the immediate release of the presidential results.
However MDC lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the court had put the matter off until Sunday. "I am concerned with the postponement but we will wait for tomorrow," he told reporters.
Meanwhile lawyers for a British and an American journalist who were detained for reporting without accreditation said police were refusing to release them despite a ruling by the attorney general that there was no case to answer.
"The police have refused to comply with the attorney-general's directive so we are doing an urgent application today to compel the police to release them," lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa told AFP.
