Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC withdrew a court challenge against President Robert Mugabe’s re-election through a vote the party had denounced as fraudulent, saying yesterday it would not get a fair hearing.
Mugabe, 89, and his Zanu-PF party were declared winners of the July 31 election but the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had filed a motion for the constitutional court to overturn the result. A hearing on the MDC challenge, which had alleged widespread vote-rigging and intimidation by Zanu-PF, had been planned for today.
“I can confirm that we have withdrawn the presidential election petition. There are a number of reasons, including the failure by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release critical evidence in this matter,” MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said.
The decision appeared to end any hope of further action by the MDC through the courts, which Tsangirai’s party have said are dominated by Zanu-PF supporters along with other state institutions in the southern African nation, formerly known as Rhodesia.
Tsvangirai, whose party has been plunged into crisis after its third failure to unseat Mugabe through elections, has dismissed the vote as a “huge fraud” and a “coup by ballot”.
In his withdrawal letter to the Constitutional Court, Tsvangirai said the MDC would continue its fight to restore democracy.
“This, sadly, as far as I am concerned entails that the Zimbabwe situation is far from resolved and on my part, as the leader of my political party, I shall endeavour to use all democratic means to bring about the successful resolution of this issue,” he said.
Political analysts said Tsvangirai has been careful not to speak about street protests, fearing a crackdown on his MDC leadership by Mugabe’s security forces.
Mugabe, emboldened by the election results, has vowed to press on with his plan to have foreign companies in the country turn over majority stakes to local blacks, a policy analysts said has deterred investment.
Tsvangirai’s case withdrawal paves the way for Mugabe, who is attending a summit of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) in neighbouring Malawi, to be sworn in for another five-year term.