Zimbabwe Candidate Pulls Out Of Election

Citing Mounting Violence, Intimidation, Opposition Leader Tsvangirai Calls Presidential Runoff "A Sham"

(CBS/ AP)  Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Sunday he is pulling out of this week's presidential runoff because mounting violence and intimidation have made it impossible to hold a credible election.

Tsvangirai announced his decision about Friday's election during a news conference in Zimbabwe's capital after thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the site of the opposition's main campaign rally in a now routine pattern of intimidation.

"We can't ask the people to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote will cost their lives. We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election," he said. "Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of that war."

Ever since Zimbabwean election officials ordered a presidential runoff in March, human rights groups say, Tsvangirai's supporters have been beaten, whipped and even stoned to death by forces loyal to President Mugabe, including soldiers and the police.

President Mugabe, still on the campaign trail, blames the trouble on the opposition, reports CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.

But the truth is President Mugabe and the powerful generals who back him have made millions of dollars for themselves, while wrecking the country's economy.

America's ambassador to Zimbabwe says that's why they won't go quietly.

"They are willing to do literally anything to retain power in Zimbabwe," said U.S. Ambassador James McGee. "One, for the financial rewards it brings in and two, for the potential retribution and justice that will be brought to bear if they lose power."

Tsvangirai said it is the United Nations' responsibility to make sure the people of Zimbabwe are protected from the violence now under way in the country.

Tsvangirai said he would put forward new proposals by Wednesday on how take the country forward. He did not provide any details about what the proposals would include.

"Our victory is certain, but it can only be delayed," he said.

Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election on March 29, but did not gain an outright majority against 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980.

That campaign was generally peaceful, but the runoff has been overshadowed by violence and intimidation, especially in rural areas. Independent human rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.

Tsvangirai complained that he was being treated like a "common criminal," with his attempts to tour the country stymied by police at roadblocks.

The state-controlled media have banned opposition advertisements, claiming they "contain inappropriate language and information." The media cited one ad that claimed that Tsvangirai won the election, "which is not the case, hence the runoff."

Tendai Biti, the opposition party's No. 2, was arrested within minutes of his return from South Africa last week and is being held on treason charges.

Tsvangirai had hoped to address his main campaign rally for the runoff Sunday afternoon.

But a Movement for Democratic Change statement said that armed soldiers and police in full riot gear took over the show ground early afternoon. It said that riot police mounted road blocks around the venue and on the main approaches to Harare. It said troops were jogging down another road leading into central Harare.

The party said military helicopters were flying around the city and around the second city of Bulawayo.

"Zimbabwe clearly is under military rule," the statement said.

There was no immediate confirmation about the movement of riot police and troops.

Thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the show ground site and set up road blocs at the main approach streets, ripped branches from trees and hurled stones at cars. Hundreds of militants, many with sticks and wearing ZANU-PF ruling party colors, marched past its headquarters chanting slogans. Eight ZANU-PF trucks, warning lights flashing and crammed with passengers, circled the grounds.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change claimed that the militants were beating opposition supporters who were trying to reach the venue and said at least two were seriously injured. It said the militants attacked journalists and forced African election monitors, who had been driving around the rally site, to flee. Election monitors could not immediately be reached for comment and there was no independent confirmation of the opposition claims.

Mugabe has shrugged off mounting international condemnation, even from normally friendly African countries like Angola.

"It is evident that the Mugabe regime has disregarded regional and continental opinion that has been calling for an end to disruption of MDC election campaign programs, state sanctioned brutality, violence and harassment of the people of Zimbabwe," the opposition said in a statement.

"The observers on the ground surely ought to be seeing this systematic state harassment of the MDC. The regime does not even want to pretend that the election will be free and fair," it said.

Zimbabwe has barred Western observers and most journalists, but the Southern African bloc hopes to send in about 400 monitors, and there are also some from the Pan-African Parliament.

At a rally in the western city of Bulawayo on Friday, Mugabe said that the opposition was lying about the violence and said everywhere he visited was peaceful. His powerful police chief pinned the blame firmly on the opposition and said that police would clamp down.

Some analysts say a small inner circle of security chiefs has orchestrated the current violence as it is desperate to prevent an opposition victory and wants to keep Mugabe in power to retain its privileges and protect it from possible prosecution.

Mugabe was lauded early in his rule for campaigning for racial reconciliation. But in recent years, he has been accused of ruining the economy and holding onto power through fraud and intimidation.

The economic slide of what was once the region's breadbasket has been blamed on the collapse of the key agriculture sector after often-violent seizures of farmland from whites.

Mugabe claimed he ordered the seizures, begun in 2002, to benefit poor blacks. But many of the farms instead went to his loyalists.

[terrorislami]

Posted by edintex at 06:28 PM : Jun 22, 2008

wronggggggggggggggggggg typical and predictable,,, anytime you allow communist take over you will have a communist induced famine,,, it is happening in venezuela now,,, they also used to export food,,, now they too have to import food,,,

Zimbabwe suffers from an 80 percent unemployment rate and, according to the International Monetary Fund, an inflation rate exceeding 150,000 percent. Since 1994, the average life expectancy for women in Zimbabwe has fallen from 57 years to 34 years; among men it has dropped from 54 years to 37 years. Some 3,500 Zimbabweans die every week from the combined effects of HIV/AIDS, poverty, and malnutrition. Half a million Zimbabweans may have died since 2000, while some 3 million fled to South Africa alone.

A country that used to be called the %u201Cjewel%u201D and the %u201Cbreadbasket%u201D of Africa is now an Orwellian nightmare. With the economy in ruins and political freedom eviscerated, Zimbabwe%u2019s state-run media rail against a phantom international conspiracy consisting of Western powers and led by %u201Cliar%u201D George Bush, %u201Cgay%u201D Tony Blair, %u201Cuncle Tom%u201D Colin Powell, and %u201Ca slave to white masters%u201D Condoleezza Rice.
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/may-05-08/botswana-and-zimbabwe-a-tale-of-two-countries

[dobbershome]

Alocin1

You see you proved my point for me. Go have another shot of that disgusting monkey juice they serve in that dirt bag country of yours.

[brianbwb-2009]

"They are willing to do literally anything to retain power in Zimbabwe," said U.S. Ambassador James McGee. "One, for the financial rewards it brings in and two, for the potential retribution and justice that will be brought to bear if they lose power."

Sounds like someone we know in the US, doesn''t it?

[alocin1]

dobbershome

Spoken like a true ignoramus with issues.

[dobbershome]

Alocin1

All people in Africa are savages. 2 years of my life wasted in that hell hole. God bless the Queen.

[alocin1]

You people are unbelievable. Why bring religion into this issue at all??? It has absolutely nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with the fact that Robert Mugabe is insane, evil...

I live in Cape Town, South Africa, and I take great offense to people calling everybody from Africa "savages". I really recommend you get your facts straight - I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and we are hardly "savage" here.

Open your eyes and look at the pictures of Tsvangirai. He knows his life is in danger - seriously. He knew when he got on the plane and went back to Zimbabwe that he very well might be killed. So did Tendai Biti. But they did it anyway, for the good of their people. The only reason that he has decided to pull out now is because too many of his people are being killed. That is hardly the work of a "savage".

Don''t post unless you have something intelligent to say.

[lightningfro]

jackie,
I never said Africans were completely peaceful, you came up with that little delusion on your own so don''t go waving your little finger towards me.
Like I said, if you ever cracked open a history book that''s accurate you would know the basics about the colonization of Africa and the Americas. And I talk about Europe because (surprise, surprise) these continents were colonized by Western Europeans.
Playing pretend is actually trying to convince people that Western Europe DIDN''T do this to anyone (or that the Europeans were trying to "civilize" the populations). The things they did was from their OWN TEACHINGS of being "civil" were downright crude, disgusting, and inhumane and the peoples of the Americas and Africa did nothing wrong other than being the "wrong color" and not following the Christian God.
Truth hurts, doesn''t it? And I made sure to specify that it was WESTERN Europe who colonized Africa and the Americas - I have not read anything about Bulgarians invading Africa or the Ukrainians trying to send the Indigenous Americans/Australians to "assimilation" schools. Reading into something I never even said weakens what little argument you have.

[j_flood]

Q: Is there oil in Zimbabwe?
A: No
Q: Is there white people in Zimbabwe?
A: Not many

Thanks Condi - next item on the agenda.

[dobbershome]

lightingfro:

Quit supporting these people, they are the most brutal I have ever had the displeasure to meet. Long live the Queen!

[dobbershome]

Quit supporting these people mate,they are savages.Long live the queen.

[longduck69]

Heil Bush! Fuhrer Bush may do the same in America''s 2008 election. The Patriot act gave him the right to full dictatorship of America. He will use this reasoning to maintain control of America and fight terrorism. He put fear into the hearts of Americans. Expect another attack on American soil...don''t worry...it''s just the Fuhrer putting fear in your minds. Control through fear. Obama and McCain are not as powerful as the Fuhrer. They are weak. This country must be cleansed of democracy. Fuhrer Bush - Mugabe 2008!

[longduck69]

The American press is crazy. I don''t know what is going on. Why aren''t American News Agencies reporting facts? Morgan Tsvangirai''s wife was attacked. They cut off her hands and feet. Then they burned her alive. Why isn''t this being reported in America. It is all over the news in Japan. I guess the F|hrer of America, Bush, has some political agenda and the media is assisting him once again. None of the American press wants to cross the F|hrer. I wonder what propaganda will come out of this issue.

[jackie0428]

lightningfro, I love your version of African history. All fingers of blame point toward the white Europeans, and away from the Africans, as if Africans had always been naturally peaceful and never ever had wars, tribal conflicts, or the like. Yep, all past and present ills and violence are laid at the feet of the evil white man, as the peaceful black men look upon with horror and wonder. Yep, I love your history. It''s fun to play pretend, isn''t it?

[jackie0428]

Short of sending in a massive military force, there is nothing anyone can do. It''s time for the people there to either sacrifice and rise up and throw this vicious government out, or they can just sit back and suffer until Mugabe the scumbag dies of old age.

[lightningfro]

Yep, West European Imperialism is quite savage.

[dobbershome]

lightingfro:

Bloody savages I''m telling you again mate.

[lightningfro]

The British brought with them Western imperialism, lust for power and wealth to continents that were not interested in trying to "rule to world". I don''t recall ever hearing the Indigenous of the Americas or Africa trying to dominate the world, starting World Wars or the like in the name of their God...or whatever. If any of you all ever read on the history of Africa, you know that colonialism actually had a destabilizing effect on Africa. There were no border wars, nor was the entire population forced into 2nd class status. And, believe it or not, there wasn''t much ethnic hatred until AFTER European colonization.
Europeans have proven to be far more savage in their quest of dominance of other nations (Hitler, Columbus), the intentional spreading of disease (ahem, what the settlers did to the Indigenous of the Americas), the Trans Continental Slave Trade and I''m pretty sure if I flip through an accurate, unbiased history book I find about a hundred more atrocities committed not by Africans...but by Europeans. And let''s not even go into Christianity, ESPECIALLY Catholicism, from the Crusades to the kid f***ing, that''s another history book by itself.

[dobbershome]

Bloody savages I telling mate.

[dobbershome]

These people are nothing but savages.

[mommakat64]

This seems to be the way things are going since the Europeans left Africa to itself. Civil wars, massacres, maniacal dictators...even the wildlife is suffering from the madness, and they have always been the big draw for Africa, especially now, with photo safaris. Bono and Geldof have their work cut out for themselves...trying to get the rest of the world to believe that Africa should and/or can be saved. And to think...we used to think that Idi Amin was so evil...