MDC, ZANU-PF won’t accept loss

It is now increasingly clear that opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangrai will not accept results if they are declared losers in Wednesday’s tightly contested polls and neither will ZANU-PF of President Robert Mugabe.

Speaking to the press today afternoon at MDC-T headquarters, party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora called the whole electoral process so far “fraudulent and unacceptable.”

“We will only accept results of a free, fair and credible process and not a sham calculated at rigging for ZANU-PF,” he said.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Parastatals and State Entreprises Golden Moyo said ZANU-PF will not accept defeat.

At the MDC media briefing, Mwonzora narrated a litany of what he called moves by the state machinery to rig the elections among them that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has lost control of the process.

“We have tried to secure an analysable voters’ roll but ZEC keeps on saying they will organise it for us which clearly means they are not in control. We are certain that the voters roll is in the hands of state security agents,” he alleged.

Further, he claimed that MDC intelligence system has evidence that government has instructed traditional leaders in rural areas to rally their subjects to vote for President Mugabe.

“This is illegal according to laws of Zimbabwe,” he said.

ZANU-PF has maintained a distance from foreign press only opting to make statements on state controlled TV and radio.

The MDC publicist already declared victory for the party and Prime Minister Tsvangrai saying “already state media have started preparing people’s minds for a re-run accepting defeat for ZANU-PF.”

Mugabe and his ZANU-PF have also claimed automatic victory ahead of the polling day.

Speaking on Zimbabwe national TV station on Monday, Moyo said ZANU-PF will not pass on the baton of power in case of defeat.

Meanwhile, various independent observers have called for calm ahead of polling on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, in a statement today morning called for a peaceful transition after polling is over.

—Wisdom is covering the Zimbabwe Elections and writes from Harare.