Tsvangirai 'won Zimbabwe election' says top US aide
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader won the disputed presidential election outright, a top US envoy declared today.
Assistant US Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said that Morgan Tsvangirai won the March 29 vote, and that therefore no power-sharing arrangement with current president Robert Mugabe was needed.
“We think in this situation we have a clear victor,” she said.
“Morgan Tsvangirai won and perhaps outright, at which point you don’t need a government of national unity. You have to accept the result.”
But she added: “There may need to be a political solution, a negotiated solution.”
Ms Frazer was speaking in South Africa at the start of a visit to bolster international pressure on Zimbabwe’s government. The US has long been among Mugabe’s leading critics.
The opposition MDC has claimed that its leader Mr Tsvangirai beat Mugabe. Independent Zimbabwean observers also say he won, although not by enough to avoid a runoff.
Ms Frazer said she was basing her conclusions on that independent tally.
Zimbabweans are still awaiting the results, with the opposition accusing Mugabe of withholding them while he plots how to keep power. Mugabe, 82, has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
Nearly four weeks after the unresolved presidential election, the state-run newspaper suggested yesterday that a national unity government led by long-time leader Mugabe could end the country’s deepening political and economic crisis.
The head of South Africa’s ruling party also said today that any proposals for a national unity government in Zimbabwe were premature.
Jacob Zuma, leader of the African National Congress party and the likely successor to South African President Thabo Mbeki, said the international community’s focus should remain on publication of results from the presidential election and the conclusion of recounts in 23 legislative elections.
During a visit to London, Mr Zuma said attempting to predict Zimbabwe’s future could hinder efforts to break the election impasse.
He also said reports of state-backed violence in Zimbabwe were of huge concern. “That cannot be allowed, it is wrong and absolutely out of order,” Mr Zuma said, adding that the ANC would consider issuing a statement of condemnation.
President Mbeki has been criticised for not condemning Mugabe over delays in releasing the election results. Mr Zuma has taken a tougher line on Mugabe.
When Mr Mbeki steps aside from the presidency next year as required by the Constitution, Mr Zuma is expected to succeed him.
Meanwhile The controversial shipload of weapons intended for Zimbabwe will return to China, officials confirmed today.
A successful international campaign to persuade neighbouring countries to refuse to land the cargo meant there was no way to deliver it, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
Landlocked Zimbabwe had originally planned to transfer the weapons by road from South Africa.
“The (shipping) company took this decision,” ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. “The shipment will be returning.” Jiang defended the shipment as a normal arms transaction and said the contract had been signed last year.
The timing of the arms shipment had further cast a spotlight on China’s ties with Africa, where its aggressive business practices and support for authoritarian regimes have drawn increasing scrutiny.
There is no international arms embargo against Zimbabwe, and China is one of the southern African nation’s main trade partners and allies.
It was widely feared the arms could be used by president Mugabe’s regime to expand a clampdown on political opponents.
Although China’s global weapons exports are considered tiny Beijing is a principal exporter of cheap, simple small arms that are blamed for fuelling violence in Sudan and other parts of Africa.
