Mugabe's De Facto Coup

Robert Mugabe is doing all that he can to stay in power, despite losing the general election and attempting to rig the results so as to create a runoff election that he can further rig. Opposition leaders are calling the situation a de facto coup, given that Mugabe is busy sending out his thugs to intimidate voters and poll officials throughout the country.

Mugabe's Zanu-PF party lost control of parliament for the first time in an election on March 29 but no results of the parallel presidential vote have been issued.

"This is, in a sense, a de facto military coup.

"They have rolled out military forces across the whole country, to prepare for a run-off and try to cow the population. It's an attempt to try to create conditions for Mugabe to win," Tsvangirai said.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday the ruling party was preparing for a runoff after its tallies showed neither Tsvangirai nor Mugabe won the required absolute majority.

The MDC rejected both a runoff and ZANU-PF attempts to have at least 14 seats recounted in the parliamentary vote.

It says Tsvangirai has won and should immediately end Mugabe's 28-year rule.

The regional body SADC, concerned at the increasing possibility of violence because of the election deadlock, has called an emergency summit in Lusaka on Saturday.

Tsvangirai said he would try to persuade the regional leaders to put pressure on Mugabe to step down.

SADC has been criticised in the past for failing to pressure Mugabe despite the economic collapse in Zimbabwe, now suffering the world's highest inflation, chronic shortages of food and fuel and a near worthless currency.

Mugabe's government said yesterday it had no problem with SADC chair and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's decision to call the emergency summit but said it had not sought assistance.

Mwanawasa's call came after Jacob Zuma, powerful leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, said the poll results must be released, signalling a more robust reaction to the crisis than President Thabo Mbeki who has insisted on "quiet diplomacy" rather than overt pressure on Mugabe.

The long delay in issuing results has dashed hopes of quick action to turn round a ruined economy that has sent millions of refugees fleeing to neighbouring SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries.

As a result of the ongoing mess, Zimbabweans have been streaming towards the border to escape what is seen as the inevitable violence that will ensue.

UPDATE:
This is yet another sign that violence may signal the downfall of the regime. The opposition is refusing to accept runoff elections, calling themselves the outright winners of the general elections although an emergency summit that will bring together Mugabe and the opposition in neighboring Zambia might defuse the situation:

Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai are this weekend due to attend an emergency summit of southern African leaders, summoned by the president of neighboring Zambia, to discuss the electoral and political crisis, spokesmen for the two men said.

The secretary-general of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, warned the opposition would not accept a second round of voting.

"Morgan Tsvangirai won this election without the need for a runoff, and we will not accept any other result except one that confirms that we won this election," he said, The Associated Press reported.

Zimbabwe has still not released the official results from the March 29 presidential election. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to force the electoral commission to release the results, but the effort has stalled at nearly every turn.

Zimbabwe is under international pressure to release the results amid concerns of heightened political tensions.