(Last Updated on July 29, 2013 by Editor)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will be arrested if he
prematurely declares the results of the upcoming election.
Tsvangirai, 61, who has said he doesn’t have confidence in
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, or ZEC, and complained over
not having access to the voters’ roll, stated he would break the
law and announce the outcome.
“What sort of madness is that?” Mugabe said in an address
to supporters of his Zimbabwe African Union Patriotic Front at
the National Sports Stadium today. “If you break the rules you
are a lawbreaker and lawbreakers will be arrested.”
Zimbabwe holds national elections on July 31 and under
local law only the ZEC can announce the final results. Mugabe,
89, has shared power with Tsvangirai in a coalition government
since a disputed election in 2008 that international observers
said was marred by violence and voter fraud.
Speaking at his final rally before the vote, Mugabe also
said he would “have a heart attack” if cities including the
capital Harare and Bulawayo repeated their endorsement of
Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change party as they
did in 2008.
He also said that he wanted Zimbabweans to be majority
owners in foreign companies operating in the country.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Godfrey Marawanyika in Johannesburg at
gmarawanyika@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dick Schumacher at
dschumacher@bloomberg.net