Mugabe rival pulls out of presidential runoff vote
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) — Zimbabwe presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai announced Sunday that he will not participate in this week’s election because a free and fair election is impossible due to violent attacks, election rigging and arrests targeting his opposition party.
He was to face longtime Zimbabwe ruler, President Robert Mugabe, in a presidential run-off on Friday after neither candidate won an outright majority in the March 29 election.
Tsvangirai also asked the United Nations to intervene to restore the rule of law, peace, and the conditions of a free and fair election.
There have been numerous reports from the opposition and Zimbabwe church groups about kidnappings, torture and other violence, including the deaths of opposition party members. They say the violence targets opponents of Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.
Youth militia from Zimbabwe’s ruling party attacked people at the site of a campaign rally in Zimbabwe’s capital just days ahead of the presidential runoff election, according to an opposition official and a journalist on the scene.
A judge in Zimbabwe’s High Court cleared the way Saturday for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally with an order that banned national police from interfering.
Police had banned the rally earlier in this week, citing security concerns.
A journalist on the scene said rowdy youths dressed in ZANU-PF regalia have occupied the venue of the rally.
The MDC issued a statement Sunday saying Thousands of ZANU PF youth militia armed with iron bars, sticks and other weapons have attacked journalists and forced election observer teams to flee from the venue.
The MDC said two of its supporters were seriously injured and taken to a hospital.
Pedestrians passing through the area were being harassed and assaulted if they do not compile to the demands of the marauding ZANU-PF militia who are asking them to chant ZANU-PF slogans, the journalist, who is unidentified for safety reasons, said.
This country belongs to ZANU-PF, a ZANU-PF youth shouted as he punched the air with a fist. It came through blood and we are prepared to spill more in order to defend it.
Pre-runoff election violence has killed about 70 MDC supporters, according to the party, which says that more than 30,000 people have been displaced.
Tsvangirai and other MDC members have also been detained several times in the weeks leading up to the runoff election.
