ZIMBABWEAN OPPOSITION leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday pulled out of this week's presidential election in Zimbabwe, saying he is not prepared to ask people to die by voting for him, and accusing Robert Mugabe of "waging a war against the people".
The Movement for Democratic Change leadership met and decided to withdraw from what it called a "violent, illegitimate sham of an election" amid the murders by the ruling Zanu-PF militia and security forces of 100 opposition activists, the torture and rape of thousands of MDC supporters, and a state-orchestrated campaign of terror across swathes of the country. "Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of that war," the opposition leader said.
The British, American and French governments immediately denounced the Mugabe regime for the collapse of the elections, and the crisis will move to the UN Security Council today as the international community considers new sanctions against the Zanu-PF leadership.
"If Mugabe thinks this finishes it, he's in for a big surprise. He has united the world against him," Mark Malloch Brown, the British foreign office minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, said. The White House added: "The government of Zimbabwe and its thugs must stop the violence now."
Mr Tsvangirai said he had little choice but to withdraw: "The militia, war veterans and even Mugabe himself have made it clear that anyone that votes for me in the forthcoming election faces the very real possibility of being killed.
"We in the MDC cannot ask them to cast their vote on June 27th when that vote could cost them their lives."
Zimbabwe's justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said that if Mr Tsvangirai writes to the electoral commission formally declaring he has pulled out, then the election will be called off and Mr Mugabe declared president again.
But the decision as to whether to cancel Friday's poll is likely to be political, as Mr Mugabe weighs up whether he should declare himself the winner by default, or press ahead with the ballot in the hope it will offer him a degree of legitimacy after losing the first-round election to Mr Tsvangirai in March.
On Saturday, Mr Tsvangirai said he was opposed to withdrawing. The party's election director, Ian Makone, was also against pulling out, saying it would hand victory to Mr Mugabe. But Mr Makone said leaders were swayed by party officials on the ground who said they could no longer ask people to vote when it would put them in danger.
In a statement last night, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said he was saddened but "in no way surprised" by Mr Tsvangirai's decision. "I hope that the international community will come together to find a way to restore democracy in that country," he added.
- (Guardian service)