Opposition politician arrested in Zimbabwe

Opposition politician arrested in Zimbabwe

it will take about ten elections before a legit. president is truely elected. mugabe will not give up the position because his goons will lose the power they on hand. many more lives will be taken and more arrest will occur. mugabe will not quit and will hang on because he felt he is the kill of the jungle. it is not a good sign. the old s.o.b. is no longer in his mind and his army general back him,the old former corporal and sgt. who become general will not give up the power becAUSE OF THE MONEY AND POWER.

Zimbabwe gov’t. draggin' its feet on run-off...

Official: Zimbabwe runoff must be delayed
May 11, 2008 — Presidential runoff cannot take place in the time allotted by law, official says; It is supposed to take place within 21 days of May 2 announcement of result; Electoral body still waiting for funds from the government to hold the poll; Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the March 29 vote ahead of president

]
Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff cannot take place in the time allotted by law, the head of the electoral commission said in an interview published Sunday. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has insisted the vote should be held within 21 days of the May 2 announcement of the results from the initial vote. However, Zimbabwean government officials have said the electoral commission has up to a year to hold the runoff.

“It was ambitious for the legislature to think 21 days would be enough," George Chiweshe was quoted as saying in the state-run Sunday Mail. Chiweshe said the electoral body was still waiting for funds from the government to hold the poll. It took the commission more than a month to announce results from the March 29 election. Tsvangirai maintains he won the first round outright and that official figures showing a second round was necessary were fraudulent.

Mugabe has been accused of orchestrating violence against the opposition since the first round, raising questions about whether a runoff would be free or fair. Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party, meanwhile, has already launched its runoff campaign. Tsvangirai said Saturday at a news conference in South Africa that although another election may bring more violence, he will return shortly to Zimbabwe to face Mugabe. He and other top opposition figures have stayed out of Zimbabwe since the initial voting.

Speaking after a meeting with Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos later Saturday, Tsvangirai said he assured regional leaders that if he were to win the presidency, he would respect Mugabe’s place in Zimbabwe’s history. Dos Santos is seen as close to Mugabe and heads the key political, defense and security committee of the Southern African Development Community. Tsvangirai told reporters in the Angolan capital that he had assured dos Santos Mugabe would be treated as the “father of the nation” in the interest of building peace and stability in Zimbabwe.

[url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/11/zimbabwe.runoff.ap/index.html:
MORE[/url]

See also:

Zimbabwe violence escalating
May 13, 2008 : LEVELS of post-election violence in Zimbabwe are escalating in urban and rural areas and could reach crisis proportions, the United Nations' senior representative in the country said today.

]
“These incidents of violence are occurring in communal farming and urban areas and there are indications that the level of violence is escalating in all these areas and could reach crisis levels,'' Agustino Zacarias, the UN’s resident representative in Zimbabwe, said. Zacarias said most of the violence appeared to have been inflicted by supporters of President Robert Mugabe on suspected followers of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change but the MDC had also carried out attacks.

“There is an emerging pattern of political violence inflicted mainly but not exclusively on rural supporters of the MDC,'' he said. “There are reports that MDC supporters are also resorting to violence.'' The diplomat said that aid workers, human rights activists and large numbers of civilians had also fallen victim to violence since a March 29 general election, when Mr Mugabe’s party lost control of parliament to the MDC. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai also beat Mr Mugabe but fell short of an overall majority and the pair must now do battle in a run-off election, the date of which has still to be announced.

“The UN country team is particularly concerned that this level of violence, reports of threats, intimidation, abuse and violence directed against NGOs, election monitors, human rights defenders and other representatives of civil society,'' Mr Zacarias said. “The UN country team is deeply concerned about the number of internally displaced people that have fled their homes for fear of reprisals by party activists without food and other basic social services.''

[url:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23694788-23109,00.html[/url]