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The uncertainty surrounding a possible second round of voting in Zimbabwe has deepened, with no date announced and no confirmation from the opposition that it will take part while its supporters are under attack from state-sponsored militias.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said yesterday that he has taken a decision on participation in the run-off but will not make it public until a date is set. The opposition rejected official results of the 29 March election when they were finally released last week and insist that their candidate won the first round outright.
Conflicting reports have emerged over the weekend suggesting that a second round of voting in the presidential contest could be delayed for up to a year, while other officials said they expect the election "within weeks".
Under the law, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is meant to set a date within three weeks of the release of results, but it has the power to extend that period. The MDC and international observers have accused the regime of Robert Mugabe of stage-managing the marathon delays and recounts from the original poll as it scrambles to reassert control over rural areas by unleashing a paid militia to terrorise opposition supporters.
When pressed yesterday over the possibility of deferring the vote for up to a year, Utoile Silaigwana, a senior official from the electoral commission, would not be drawn on whether it planned to extend the date. "The commission will soon meet over this matter," he said.
Mr Tsvangirai's spokesman, George Sibotshiwe, was similarly opaque on their intentions. "We have a decision," he told the Associated Press. "But we will only announce it when [the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission] announces the date of the election." Despite violence in which the opposition claims 20 of its supporters were murdered and thousands more injured or driven from their homes, the government appears reluctant to commit itself to a date for the rerun.
Instead it has sought to use the confusion and panic caused by its own campaign of violence as a pretext for delaying a fresh vote, claiming the opposition is behind the instability. The claim, which has been widely rejected, was further undermined by one of the main teachers' unions, which detailed political violence against its members.
The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), which provides the bulk of election monitors, said that 2,740 teachers had been targeted by militias unleashed by the 84-year-old president.
It said 133 teachers had been assaulted with 23 of them treated in hospital, and four houses belonging to teachers torched. A total of 31 schools had been completely deserted by teachers, the PTUZ said. "Whoever is calling himself the government should act to stop violence in schools or we will be forced to act," the union said, threatening a nationwide strike.
After a five-week wait, the official result showed that Mr Tsvangirai had beaten Mr Mugabe by 47.9 per cent to 43.2 per cent.
Initial confidence in opposition ranks that they would romp to victory in a second round has been undermined by the intimidation and violence. Increasing numbers of MDC sympathisers have also criticised Mr Tsavangirai's decision to remain outside Zimbabwe while his supporters are under attack.
- INDEPENDENT
