Mugabe backs opposition, not his ‘tormentors’
In a surprise election intervention, Zimbabwe’s former president refuses to back the party he once led
Robert Mugabe, the former dictator of Zimbabwe, endorsed the main opposition candidate in a surprise intervention on the eve of today’s historic general election. Mr Mugabe, 94, said he could not vote for “the people who tormented me” – referring to Zanu PF, the party he led.
‘Let tomorrow be the voice of the people to say never again shall we experience a period where the army is used to thrust one person into power’
ROBERT MUGABE, the former dictator of Zimbabwe, endorsed the main opposition candidate in a surprise intervention on the eve of today’s historic general election.
Mr Mugabe, 94, said he could not vote for Zanu-pf, the party he headed for four decades until he was deposed in November, and indicated he would back the opposition MDC alliance.
“I cannot vote for the people who tormented me,” Mr Mugabe said yesterday, referring to Emmerson Mnangagwa, the current Zanu-pf leader and incumbent president. “I will make my choice from the other 22 candidates.” But he added: “Who is there left? I think it is just Chamisa.”
It was not clear if Mr Mugabe’s intervention would affect voting intentions for Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance, a grouping of seven opposition parties.
An apparent endorsement by the widely hated dictator could erode some of his credibility as an oppositionist and candidate of change. However, he could pick up votes from traditional Zanu-pf supporters dismayed at Mr Mugabe’s treatment during the soft coup that ended his rule last year.
Speaking at an impromptu press conference in the grounds of his sprawling mansion in northern Harare, Mr Mugabe, flanked by his wife Grace, said he had been illegally “sacked” in the coup and accused Mr Mnangagwa of destroying Zimbabwe’s democracy.
“I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will throw, thrust away, the military government and bring us back to constitutionality,” he said.
“Let tomorrow be the voice of the people to say never again shall we experience a period where the army is used to thrust one person into power.”
Mr Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 38 years until was he deposed in a largely bloodless military coup in November following a power struggle between Grace Mugabe and Mr Mnangagwa, his former vice-president and intelligence chief.
Today’s presidential election will be the first in which Mr Mugabe is not on the ballot paper since the end of white minority rule in 1980.
Parliamentary and local government elections take place simultaneously, and the poll is widely seen as a twohorse race between Mr Mnangagwa, 75, and Mr Chamisa, 40.
Both candidates have promised radical economic and political reforms in a bid to convince voters that only they offer a break with the Mugabe years.
The most recent poll by Afrobarometer, an international pollster, put Mr Chamisa on 37 per cent of the vote and Mr Mnangagwa on 40 per cent. Several prominent former members of the G40, the faction inside Zanu-pf that backed Mrs Mugabe in her unsuccessful power struggle with Mr Mnangagwa, have endorsed Mr Chamisa.
Mr Chamisa said he would not reject Mr Mugabe’s indirect endorsement, but ruled out allowing Grace Mugabe a place in his cabinet.
“I will accept any voter with a clear mind and a clean heart,” he said at a press conference.
“I need every support and this is not about the past. it’s about the future. I must not gaze at the past. We are going forward and it is a waste of time watching internal fights in Zanu-pf.”
The international community has demanded a free and fair vote as a condition for allowing Zimbabwe to rejoin the Commonwealth and for the lifting of US sanctions that currently block IMF loans.
Additional reporting by Peta Thornycroft
Today’s elections in Zimbabwe – the first since Robert Mugabe was deposed last November, after 37 years in power – are seen as an opportunity for the country whose prosperous fabric he ruined to revive its fortunes. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who assumed the presidency with the backing of the military, has spent the past eight months trying to convince the international community that he represents a clean break with the past. He needs to end Zimbabwe’s pariah status to gain readmission to the Commonwealth and relief from the US sanctions that currently block desperately needed IMF loans.
This requires tangible political change. The big unanswered question is whether this is deliverable while Zimbabwe remains effectively a one-party state in the iron grip of Zanu-pf. Its principal opponent, the Movement for Democratic Change, has struggled to get a foothold in Zimbabwean politics and the current leader, Nelson Chamisa, told supporters at the weekend that “if we miss our opportunity on Monday, we are doomed for life”.
That is a somewhat bleak prognosis, given the likely outcome of the elections. Mr Mnangagwa’s opponents maintain that as a loyal lieutenant of Mugabe, nicknamed “the Crocodile”, he is merely an extension of the despotism that has destroyed the country. On the other hand, the refusal of the ousted Mr Mugabe to endorse his protégé yesterday may help to dispel that impression.
Zimbabweans are eager for change. Their problems reside with a regime of nepotism and bribery that Mr Mnangagwa has been in no hurry to dismantle. Western investment will only return if there is economic modernisation, democratic advances and an end to corruption. Given the international goodwill towards Zimbabwe, a big prize awaits a reformist leader. Mr Mnangagwa claims to be that man. But may the voters of Zimbabwe yet spring a surprise on the Crocodile?