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Robert Mugabe began his last-ditch fight to stay in power in Zimbabwe yesterday, sending his self-styled "war veterans" to march ominously through the capital, Harare, silently taunting the country with the threat of a return to the violence and intimidation that has characterised previous election campaigns.
After a marathon meeting of Mugabe's inner circle to discuss the biggest crisis of his 28-year rule, the ruling party endorsed him as their candidate for what is set to be an explosive run-off vote for the presidency. And in a sign of just how far "Comrade Bob" was digging in his heels, his Zanu-PF party vowed to contest the results of 16 parliamentary seats - enough to win back the majority that it had lost for the first time in its history.
A five-hour session concluded yesterday with the 84-year-old Mugabe being put forward to take on his rival Morgan Tsvangirai. "We are down but not out," the party secretary, Didymus Mutasa, said. "Absolutely the candidate will be Mugabe. Who else would it be other than our dear old man?"
The run-off would be held at a date to be determined by the electoral commission, Mutasa said. This appeared to suggest that the second round would not be held on April 19 - the requisite three weeks after the first round of elections - heightening fears that the ruling party would use the extra time to rig the ballot.
"It's like hunting a buffalo," said one opposition official. "Even if you kill him with the first shot, he keeps running at you. And if you just fatally wound him, then he will hide in the bush and wait to ambush you before he dies."
Last Saturday's vote for change was still officially being counted while the regime was vowing to fight the next round with 100 per cent of its forces. Although the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had been hoping that the school teacher-turned-guerrilla fighter would opt for the "graceful exit" being offered him in secret talks brokered by regional diplomats, opposition leaders remained confident they could defeat Mugabe.
The sight of the "liberation war veterans" on the streets of Harare was like scenes from a recurring nightmare for many in this bankrupt country. These were the feared men from the bush war who helped end white minority rule, but have been reincarnated as a paid militia, deployed to terrorise political opponents or carry out land invasions. In a sign of the changing times, the 400-strong veterans' parade had its own police guard - an acknowledgement from authorities that they have lost control of the cities that voted overwhelmingly for the MDC.
Whipping up the anti-colonial rhetoric that has become Mugabe's trademark, the Herald newspaper, mouthpiece of the regime, accused the MDC of being a front for white farmers keen to take their land back.
And the war veterans were quick to jump on this bandwagon. "It now looks like these elections were a way to open for the re-invasion of this country [by the British]," Jabulani Sibanda, the veterans' leader said. "These are all provocations against us freedom fighters."
Mugabe's decision to tear up gradual land reform eight years ago and force commercial farmers off their land is widely credited with destroying the agricultural sector on which the economy relied. Much of the prime farmland has been handed out through a vast system of patronage. The beneficiaries of this colossal corruption include the upper echelons of Zanu-PF and the chiefs of the army, air force and police who have been the most hawkish in refusing to accept an MDC victory.
Six days after Zimbabweans voted for their president, official results have yet to be released. According to independent projections and leaks from the ruling party, Tsvangirai has secured a significant first-round lead over Mugabe but has fallen narrowly short of the 51 per cent needed to avoid a second contest. Sources said all parties had agreed to a recount of the presidential poll, to take place in a locked room in the presence of one official from each of the candidates' parties.
- INDEPENDENT
