Mugabe in stinging attack on rival

Written By Unknown on Senin, 12 Agustus 2013 | 18.19

12 August 2013 Last updated at 07:06 ET

Robert Mugabe has launched a stinging attack on his main rival, PM Morgan Tsvangirai, in his first public speech since he won Zimbabwe's disputed presidential election.

Rejecting opposition claims the vote was stolen, he told a Heroes' Day event that those against him could "go hang".

Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) boycotted the speech.

The party has lodged a legal challenge against the result of the "stolen election", demanding it be rerun.

Mr Mugabe won 61% of the vote in the election on 31 July, while Mr Tsvangirai came second with 35% and Welshman Ncube third with 3%, according to official results.

The president's Zanu-PF party also gained a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds, winning 160 of the 210 seats.

In his speech, which dealt with a series of national issues, Mr Mugabe focused at one point on his election victory and called for celebrations.

"Those who lost elections may commit suicide if they so wish. Even if they die, dogs will not eat their flesh," he said.

Zimbabwe's Western detractors had been "put to shame", he added.

Deep rifts

Heroes' Day is Zimbabwe's proud annual celebration, when the country remembers those who died during the 1970s fighting for independence, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Johannesburg.

Mr Mugabe was speaking at National Heroes' Acre, the monument in the capital where some of those killed are buried.

In an earlier statement on Monday, Mr Tsvangirai called for calm, saying there was no national celebration for the day but rather "a nation in mourning".

Continue reading the main story
  • Bribery - Village leaders were reportedly given food and kitchenware to persuade people to vote for Zanu-PF
  • Manipulation of voter roll - Voters said to have had most trouble registering in urban areas, where the MDC is strongest. More than a million names allegedly duplicates or dead people
  • Voters turned away - The MDC says 900,000 people were turned away from polling stations, mainly in the capital
  • Intimidation - There were reports of traditional leaders threatening villagers if they voted for MDC
  • Abuse of assisted voting - The MDC claims literate people were told to say they were illiterate so that they could be "assisted by Zanu-PF people"

The MDC was boycotting his speech in protest at what it says was massive vote rigging by Zanu-PF, so this Heroes' Day has had political overtones too, exposing the deep rifts at the heart of this troubled country, our correspondent adds.

Mr Mugabe has not yet been sworn in for a seventh consecutive term, since the appeal is ongoing. He maintains that he and Zanu-PF won free and fair elections.

In his statement, published by the NewsDay newspaper, Mr Tsvangirai said the majority of Zimbabweans were "still shocked at the brazen manner in which their vote was stolen".

"We must all remain calm as we celebrate Heroes' Day. I know that we will always be a heroic people."

The MDC has said it has "strong evidence of electoral irregularities", including bribery, abuse of "assisted voting", and manipulation of the electoral roll.

African and regional monitors praised the poll for being peaceful but noted some irregularities.

But a local observer group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) and its network of 7,000 observers, said that about one million voters - mainly in urban areas - were "systematically disenfranchised" by being omitted from the voters' roll or turned away.

The nine-member Constitutional Court is expected to discuss the complaint this week. It has up to two weeks to deliver its verdict.

But, with several judges being supporters of Mr Mugabe, our correspondent says few expect the MDC challenge to bear fruit.

In a separate development on Sunday, state radio reported that the ministry of mines had denied a report in the Times newspaper that it had agreed to sell Iran uranium for its nuclear programme.

A ministry statement was quoted as stressing that the report was "a malicious and blatant lie", and that no export licences had been issued.

Iran's foreign minister has also denied the report.


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