Zimbabwe Opposition Vows to Boycott Runoff

Party says it won the election 'hands down'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2008 11:44 AM CDT
Zimbabwe Opposition Vows to Boycott Runoff
Pedestrians walk beneath an opposition election banner in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday April 9 2008. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, portrait on poster, made an impassioned plea for the international community to persuade President Robert Mugabe to step down, even as electoral officials continued...   (AP Photo)

Zimbabwe’s opposition party today announced it would boycott a runoff of the presidential election, saying their candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the vote “hands down.” Official results from the election still have not been released, but President Robert Mugabe is thought to be pushing for a runoff vote, claiming Tsvangirai didn’t win by a large enough margin, the Guardian reports.

The defiant move comes a day before an African summit on the situation, which both Mugabe and Tsvangirai are set to attend. Tsvangirai has called Mugabe’s delays a de facto coup, but believes he will eventually take power. “We’ll manage to get Mugabe out,” he said. “No one wants to touch Mugabe in the region now.” (More Zimbabwe elections stories.)

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