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Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Heads to Harare With Security Guarantee
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Dumisani Muleya and Foreign Staff
Johannesburg
ZIMBABWEANS are braced for the arrival of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Harare today, after the opposition leader was guaranteed that he would not be arrested on his return.
Tsvangirai is expected to start campaigning across the country this week after he agreed at the weekend to contest the presidential runoff against President Robert Mugabe, with conditions.
His conditions include an immediate end to post-election violence, that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) send peacekeepers to Zimbabwe, and that election and United Nations human rights monitors be present for the runoff, which Tsvangirai wants before May 23 in accordance with the law.
But at least the last condition was in doubt yesterday as electoral commission head George Chiweshe said in an interview that government officials needed more time and money to prepare for the second-round vote.
Indications are it will be held within 40 days. "It was ambitious for the legislature to think 21 days would be enough," Chiweshe was quoted by the state-run Sunday Mail as saying.
The electoral body was still waiting for about $60m in funds from the government to hold the runoff, he said.
It took the commission more than a month to announce results from the disputed March 29 presidential election.
Tsvangirai maintains he won the first round outright and claims official figures were fraudulent. He has remained abroad since the vote because of threats against him, but it emerged yesterday that he had secured a guarantee that he would not be arrested by the ruling Zanu (PF) regime.
After meeting Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos on Saturday, Tsvangirai said he had assured regional leaders that if he were to win the presidency, he would respect Mugabe's place in Zimbabwe's history.
Dos Santos is seen as close to Mugabe and heads the key political, defence and security committee of SADC.
Tsvangirai told the Angolan leader Mugabe would be treated as the "father of the nation" in the interest of building peace and stability. Tsvangirai said last month he believed the Zimbabwean people would press for Mugabe to stand trial for crimes against humanity.
Tsvangirai said he and Dos Santos spoke about the escalating violence in Zimbabwe, and what had to be done to improve conditions for the runoff.
Mugabe has been accused of orchestrating violence against the opposition since the first round, casting doubt on the integrity of a runoff. The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says 22 people have died, 900 have been tortured and 40000 farm workers have been displaced in postelection violence.
The MDC said yesterday that 31 of its members had been killed since March 29.
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The African National Congress (ANC) and its main allies yesterday expressed "grave concern at the worsening situation" in Zimbabwe.
The alliance called "for an end to all violence and harassment.... We urge the leadership and the people of Zimbabwe, assisted by SADC, to work together to find a lasting solution to this crisis."
With Reuters
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