Zimbabwe police seal off opposition MDC headquarters, election result ‘very soon’
HARARE (Reuters) – Police sealed off the headquarters of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party and troops cleared the streets of the capital on Thursday, one day after protests over a disputed presidential election ended in deadly violence.
The security forces acted despite calls from foreign governments and international organizations for calm and for political leaders to show restraint.
The result of Monday’s presidential election, the first since the army ousted Robert Mugabe last November to end four decades of authoritarian rule, had still not been announced by Thursday afternoon although the electoral commission said it would do so “very soon.”
On Wednesday, Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of rigging the poll, although he offered no evidence.
Opposition supporters took to the streets to demonstrate and three were shot dead by soldiers amid clashes.
The army crackdown has punctured the euphoria that followed its removal of Mugabe, and fueled suspicions that the generals who launched the coup remain Zimbabwe’s de facto rulers.
In Harare, the contrast could not be stronger with November, when hundreds of thousands filled the streets, hugging soldiers and celebrating their role in ousting 94-year-old Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe had known since independence in 1980.
“They are showing their true colors now. We thought they were our savior in November but they fooled us,” said newspaper vendor Farai Dzengera, saying that the brief dream of an end to decades of repression was over.
“What can we do... They run this country.”
MDC Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora said 27 party workers carrying out voter tabulation were locked inside its offices as police sealed them off on Thursday. He said he suspected police wanted to plant evidence to incriminate officials.
“We will not recognize that search warrant because they want to plant evidence. They want to disrupt our results tabulation process that’s all,” he said.
Police denied the allegation. “The police are there to do their job,” police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said.
Nearly all shops in downtown Harare were shuttered and the normally bustling pavements quiet the day after the bloodshed.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman, George Charamba, insisted that Thursday was a normal working day.
“They must go about their business as always,” he said on state television.