Mugabe preaches peace
Incumbent Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has for the first time suggested he would accept defeat if his Zanu-PF party loses today’s elections.
At a press conference in Harare where he appeared unusually calm and collected, spicing his responses with jokes, Mugabe-–who has led Zimbabwe since 1980–-said in any competition, results should be accepted as they come.
He said: “When you enter a competition where there are only two results, you must accept. What is required is if you lose, hand over to the winner.”
The Zimbabwe president refused to predict results of the harmonised elections, but was able to say he does not see a repeat of the 2008 situation where Zanu-PF had to enter into a government of national unity (GNU) for lack of a clear winner.
On opposition criticism of him and his party manipulating the electoral process, Mugabe said: “I don’t control elections. I am a lawyer myself and have been brought up respecting rule of law. I don’t break laws.”
Mugabe joked about lessons Zimbabwe has learnt from the GNU of Zanu-PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of prime minister Morgan Tsvangrai and MDC of deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambala.
“We have learnt a number of things. At first, Mr. Tsvangrai feared to take tea here, but I told him, I am taking from this pot, if there is poison, I will be the first to die,” he said.
He went on to say, through the unity governments the three parties have managed to unite Zimbabwe “and I hope we will continue being calm even after elections.”
He dismissed suggestions that he and the State apparatus had a hand in delays by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release voter register to the opposition, claiming he only got his copy on Monday.
Zimbabweans go to the polls today [Wednesday] to elect president, members of parliament and councillors in an election too close to call.
