MORGAN Tsvangirai . . . denied his party was negotiating Mugabe's exit

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday he beat President Robert Mugabe but he rejected media reports that he was negotiating the veteran leader’s exit with the ruling ZANU PF party.

Tsvangirai told journalists in Harare Tuesday evening that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party could not enter into negotiations or deals before the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declares the winner of last Saturday’s presidential ballot.

“Lets not be led by speculation, there are no discussions (with ZANU PF) let's wait for ZEC to make a statement (announcing winner),” Tsvangirai responded when asked whether he or his MDC party was talking to Mugabe’s party.

“There is no way the MDC will enter into negotiations or deals before the constitutional announcement (of a winner by ZEC),” added Tsvangirai, who also made it clear he would not declare himself winner but would wait for the elctoral commission to announce final poll results.

Rumour is strong in Harare that preliminary negotiations for Mugabe’s smooth exit are underway and were initiated by ZANU PF following strong projections that Tsvangirai would beat Mugabe in the election but fall short of the 51 percent voted needed to avoid a runoff.

Neither Mugabe nor ZANU PF has commented on the speculation even after international media circulated reports of Mugabe’s pending resignation across the globe.

Tsvangirai said results collated by the MDC showed the party winning comfortably against ZANU PF and said he himself had also won with a big enough margin to avoid a runoff against Mugabe.

“We are above the constitutional requirement for a runoff,” he said.

The ZEC was not immediately available for comment on the matter but the Harare authorities earlier this week warned the MDC against unilaterally declaring results, threatening that such declarations of victory would be regarded as a coup.

Zimbabweans voted for a new president, parliament and local councils. Partial results released by the ZEC show Tsvangirai’s MDC with 85 seats while ZANU PF has also garnered 85 seats so far. A small faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara has won five seats. There 33 constituencies whose results are still to be declared.

The commission has not released results for the presidential poll in which Mugabe faced Tsvangirai and former finance minister Simba Makoni.

With no results whatsoever on the presidential poll, projections by civic groups and speculation by the media has filled in the gap. 

The independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has said its projections show Tsvangirai taking 49.4 percent of the presidential vote against Mugabe’s 41.8 percent with Makoni winning 8.2 percent. 

Such a result would mean a second round run-off between Tsvangirai and Mugabe to determine the eventual winner.

And unnamed ZANU PF officials have been quoted by international media as having said that projections by the ruling party showed Tsvangirai getting 48.3 percent, against Mugabe's 43 percent, with Makoni taking eight percent – a scenario that would also lead to a run-off.

Tsvangirai and Makoni’s camps have indicated they would close ranks behind one candidate in the event of a run-off.

The elections, billed Zimbabwe’s most important since independence from Britain 28 years ago, have been held amid an acute recession blamed on state mismanagement and seen in the world’s highest inflation of more than 100 000 percent, spiraling poverty, shortages of food and every basic commodity.

Political analysts say support from the military and a skewed political playing field that disadvantages the opposition are enough to ensure victory for Mugabe’s government despite an economic crisis that the World Bank has described as the worst in the world outside a war zone.

Meanwhile, international pressure continues mounting on Mugabe’s government to expedite the release of results, with the United States and Britain leading the call on the ZEC to stop delaying results.

Current European Union (EU) president, Slovenia, has also urged the Zimbabwean authorities to urgently disclose the winners of the weekend presidential, parliamentary and local government election.

"This would end the current uncertainty and prevent the risk of rising tensions," the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

Washington called on the ZEC to stop delaying results and urged Mugabe’s government to respect the outcome of the poll if the opposition won.

Zimbabwe’s military commanders said during the run-up to the polls that they were prepared to salute Mugabe only, in what was seen as a threat to stage a coup in the event the veteran leader lost.

"We want to see the presidential vote count be released as soon as possible. Delays in that vote counting and delays in the release of the results are troubling, certainly given all the problems that we noted prior to the election," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. – ZimOnline.