Commission calls for runoff; opposition calls it 'daylight robbery'
Reuters May 2, 08 10:10 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Zimbabwe’s official election results are finally out, Reuters reports, and as expected, they call for a runoff between opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote, the election commission found, beating Mugabe’s 43.2% but not hitting the 50% necessary to avoid a runoff. “This whole thing is a scandal, scandalous daylight robbery and everyone knows that,” an opposition spokesman said.
More »
Zimbabwe election commission rebuts opposition victory claim
CNN May 1, 08 8:06 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
The head of Zimbabwe's electoral commission tells CNN that Robert Mugabe will win re-election by default if Morgan Tsvangirai goes through with a threat to boycott a runoff. Tsvangirai's party claims a 50.3% victory, making a runoff unnecessary; Mugabe's party argues he has only a 47%-43% margin. The commission head, George Chiweshe, said results of the March presidential race will be submitted to both parties today.
More »
Security Council
hits stalemate
Times (UK) Apr 30, 08 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
A closed-door session of the Security Council failed to make progress on Zimbabwe after South Africa led a successful effort to block a plan to send a UN envoy to Harare. The US, Britain, and France pushed for dispatching an observer—and for a moratorium on arms sales. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, meanwhile, blasted Zimbabwe's failure to announce election results.
More »
Journalist was detained by Mugabe regime for reporting on election
New York Times Apr 27, 08 12:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
On April 3, Barry Bearak was arrested in Harare on charges of "committing journalism" and locked in a Zimbabwean prison. The New York Times reporter now tells the story of his imprisonment, which involved four days of negotiating the murky legal system with the help of one of the country's top human rights lawyers, and finally gaining his freedom.
More »
Overturned results
now look unlikely
BBC Apr 26, 08 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
With recounts confirming results on seven more seats today, Zimbabwe’s opposition party seems less and less at risk of losing the new majority gained in parliamentary elections last month, the BBC reports. Ten seats remain in the recount, and Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF needs nine to regain power in the country’s lower house.
More »
MDC claims 100 arrested; witnesses describe violent scene
CNN Apr 25, 08 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Zimbabwean police raided the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in Harare today. The MDC claims that around 100 party members were arrested, and a journalist on the site saw people "limping and in pain" being dragged away. Several of the arrested were recovering from earlier injuries sustained in attacks by pro-Mugabe mobs.
More »
Diplomat condemns Zimbabwe violence, but hints at 'political solution'
Associated Press Apr 24, 08 1:49 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
After more than three weeks in which Robert Mugabe has failed to hand over results from Zimbabwe’s presidential election, a top US diplomat for Africa came out in support of his challenger today, the AP reports. “Morgan Tsvangirai won, and perhaps outright,” Jendayi Frazer said in South Africa. She also expressed concern over reports of violent reprisals against opposition supporters.
More »
South African dock workers refuse to unload Chinese tanker
New York Times Apr 24, 08 8:33 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
A Chinese ship with a cargo of arms and ammunition bound for Zimbabwe will indeed head back to China, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed today, after Zimbabwe's neighbors refused to let the vessel dock. The decision is a victory for the coalition of trade unionists, religious leaders, and Western diplomats who united to block the armaments' delivery, reports the New York Times .
More »
BBC Apr 23, 08 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF has won the first of the parliamentary recounts, the BBC reports, retaining a seat challenged by the MDC opposition party. The MDC says the partial recount, which mainly targets MDC seats, is an attempt to rig the election. Zanu-PF meanwhile tried to distance itself from an editorial in the state-run newspaper calling for a power-sharing deal to resolve the presidential election crisis.
More »
South African leader takes harder line
on Mugabe
BBC Apr 23, 08 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
South African leader Jacob Zuma has arrived in London, where he'll meet with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss the political deadlock in Zimbabwe, reports the BBC. Before the meeting, the head of the ruling African National Congress said that the delay in the release of last month's election results is "unacceptable." But he did not explicitly say that Morgan Tsvangirai had won the poll or that President Robert Mugabe should step down.
More »
Guns may not reach Zimbabwe
BBC Apr 22, 08 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
China may recall the ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe, thanks to stonewalling by its Southern African neighbors, the BBC reports. Coastal nations are refusing to allow the ship to dock, worried that the weapons will be used to escalate Zimbabwe’s tense post-election standoff. The ship may yet find harbor in Angola, an ally of Zimbabwe’s government, but a Chinese official said it was considering simply returning home.
More »
Leader tells UN that Mugabe's troops are 'terrorizing people'
Reuters Apr 21, 08 6:24 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Zimbabwe's opposition begged world leaders today for protection from post-election violence, Reuters reports. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said troops were "terrorizing people" and creating "a very serious humanitarian situation" in Zimbabwe, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said. Tsvangirai also told Ban that African leaders had failed to intervene after Zimbabwe's disputed election last month.
More »