…but is poised for a runoff. Unofficial results: Mugabe (ZANU-PF) 43%; Tsvangirai (MDC) 47%. Official figures have yet to be released, however.
From the Telegraph:
The ruling party’s willingness to concede a first-round lead to Mr Tsvangirai may be a sign that, having delayed the results and used the time to launch a campaign of violence against opposition supporters, it is now confident of winning a second round. It may also have been the best they could hope for if Mr Tsvangirai really did take more than 50 per cent and rigging has had to be employed to bring down his share of the vote.
Full article here.
The initial response from the opposition: they will not participate.
The Washington Post has opposition spokesman George Sibotshiwe saying, “If Robert Mugabe cannot accept the real results now, what’s the guarantee he’ll accept the real results after a runoff?”
It’s a matter of hours before the South African government says something disappointingly conciliatory, and the Brits and Americans make ridiculous and empty threats.
3 Responses
That last sentence is pretty funny.
Man you had me excited with that headline. I think no matter what though, at this point Mugabe is in a more vulnerable position than he has been in ages. Hopefully all works out well, and we can all have a good laugh at some American smack-talk.
Could someone explain why South Africa and Western governments do not apply more pressure on Mugabe? What makes him so valuable? I couldn’t find an explanation in anything I’ve read.