PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has vowed to step down if he loses Wednesday's fiercely-contested elections.
The Zanu PF leader told a televised press briefing attended by dozens of local and international journalists at State House on Tuesday that he would follow the country's laws in the event of a poll set back.
"That's a normal thing it you go into a process and join in a competition where there are only two outcomes, win or lose, you can be both, you either win or lose, if you lose then you must surrender to those who have won. If you win those who have lost must also surrender
to you, we will do yes, comply with the rules," Mugabe said.
Mugabe further defended the country's military chiefs who have vowed to block the swearing in of any winner of a presidential election who did not take part in the 1970s war of liberation.
He downplayed threats of a coup should he lose the vote after public declarations by several top generals that they would not serve under Tsvangirai.
"You are putting it as if all Generals said so," Mugabe responded after being asked for his views on the stance by his Generals.
"If one or two said so it's just those one or two. They are not the army and they are not the authority anyway, but that was their own view and l thought it was corrected.
"They are law abiding people, very law abiding and you know it's military discipline that they obey not the discipline you and l are used to. We get up as we like and do things as we like. It's left! Right! About turn! March!"
Mugabe, who accompanied most of his responses with humour, denied having the "power" to manipulate the country's voting process in his favour.
"l have the power? I don't have it! Are you giving me the power now, if you give me the power, l will say no l don't need it. l have the law in my country that is the law that manipulates us all," Mugabe said.
"I don't control the electoral process. l comply with, obey the law and l move in accordance with the demands of the electoral process, that is moving in accordance with the law as said, that is the electoral law I am very obedient. l am a lawyer myself.
"l am also a person who believes in order. l have been brought up obeying father and mother, obeying systems, obeying customs, obeying elders and that's it, we obey."
Mugabe denied chiefs were intimidating villagers into voting for Zanu PF saying chiefs would not intimidate their own people.
He said he formed a unity government with his MDC rivals after the international community had refused to accept the 2008 presidential run-off election but insisted there have been worse electoral processes in other African countries.
The veteran president dismissed claims he was now too frail to last the next five years if re-elected refused to say whether he would serve the full term.
"Why do you want to know my secrets? Tell me," he said.
"According to Europe and perhaps America, I died, l don't know how many times l died but they never talked about my resurrection, l was dying and dying and dying even the dead dying again, again and again but never did they say l have resurrected. I'm not dead yet."
Mugabe played down the exchange of insults with his opponents during election campaigns saying this was common in politics.
"We had to attack each other politically, which is what we are supposed to do in an election campaign l got my fair share of criticisms and l also dealt back right, lefts and upper cuts and all kind of things but that is the game and we do hope that it has been a model for future campaigns but at the end of it all in a selfish way because l am Zanu PF and leader of Zanu PF and we hope the people will vote for Zanu PF," he said.
During one of his campaign stops last weekend, Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of being a puppet of the country's military.
But Mugabe said this was par for teh course.
"I thought l had accused him of being a puppet of Europe and the whites so he has dealt me one good one and l returned it so it's all over now, we can shake hands," he said.
"We have worked together but this was to be expected. Did you think he was not going to box me? And did you think l was going to open myself to being boxed without dealing in, return what l left all these years? 89 years you know, of boxing the British and imperialism gave me quite some experience."
Mugabe, who was flanked by his spokesperson George Charamba and defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Asked if Mnangagwa's presence was deliberate and, perhaps, a pointer to his preference for a successor, the Zanu PF leader said, with a chuckle: "Your mind has run wild. You want me to tell you how he happens to be here?
"He had come to deliver a paper to me on something else and we were discussing. He asked why these people are here and I said I'm going to have a press conference, then he asked 'could he stay', then I said 'yes'.
"He's not even invited, he has invited himself and I said you're welcome. In Africa we don't chase people when they visit you. He happened to have seen you gathered here and he wondered how you, even strangers, much more of strangers to me that he could be here.
"He's minister of defence, you can perhaps say he feared that you people gathered here were out to commit some mischief. He wanted to be present to defend me. You can see he sat here very mute, just listening to me and perhaps enjoying your questions."
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