Zimbabwe’s state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper said a partial recount of votes cast in the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections would take place in a week’s time.
The surprise announcement came as leaders of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) gathered in the Zambian capital Lusaka mulled over the wording of a communique after several hours of emergency talks on Zimbabwe and its delayed election resultsiting two weeks for official results of the polls, in which longtime President Robert Mugabe is battling to extend his 28-year grip on power.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Morgan Tsvangirai has already declared himself the victor. Mugabe’s party says neither Tsvangirai nor Mugabe won outright and is gearing up for a runoff vote.
The Zimbabwe Election Commission’s (ZEC) delay in releasing the results has led to an outcry in Zimbabwe and abroad amid calls from the international community for SADC to intervene.
But the effectiveness of the extraordinary summit called by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa was compromised from the outset after Mugabe decided to boycott it.
His party said it saw no need for the summit because there was “no crisis” in the country - remarks later echoed by South African President Thabo Mbeki, SADC’s mediator in Zimbabwe.
“Everyone is waiting for the ZEC to announce all the results that are outstanding” Mbeki said after talks with Mugabe during a stopover in Harare on his way to Lusaka Saturday. But, he said, “I wouldn’t describe that as a crisis” and urged further patience.
The MDC has accused Mugabe of deliberately withholding the results to rig the result and pacify the population ahead of a runoff. International rights groups have reported numerous attacks by Zanu-PF supporters against alleged opposition supporters in recent days.
Opening the summit, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa urged SADC members not to “turn a blind eye” to the situation in Zimbabwe, which he said was creating “economic and political difficulties” in the region.
SADC’s intention was not, however, to put “President Mugabe in the dock” but to convey to him the bloc’s desire for good governance, he said.
Mugabe was represented at the summit by three government ministers, but they were upstaged by Tsvangirai, who was invited to give his version of events to the summit.
Zimbabwe’s latest crisis presents SADC with a key test of its commitment to democratic reform.
In the past, Zimbabwe’s neighbours have rallied around Mugabe, rubber-stamping flawed elections and refusing to condemn gross human rights abuses to shield him from criticism from the West.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan on Friday warned SADC leaders they had “a grave responsibility to act” to contain the Zimbabwean impasse and uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday issued his second call in as many days for the election results to be released, warning Mugabe: “The whole eyes of the world are on Zimbabwe.
“Brown is a little tiny dot on this world,” Mugabe countered angrily.
The MDC has been urging SADC to pressure Mugabe to concede defeat in the elections, but Mbeki on Saturday talked up a runoff.
The MDC defeated Zanu-PF in elections to the lower house of parliament also held on March 29, but Zanu-PF accused the MDC of bribing election officials.
Before Saturday the party had been demanding a partial recount of the parliamentary and presidential vote. The parliamentary recount had already got underway with Zanu-PF reclaiming a seat in Masvingo province, state media reported.
State television Saturday meanwhile reported discovery of a letter reportedly authored by MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti which it said proved its claims the MDC rigged the vote.
Asked to respond, Biti told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: “Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.”
