MDC, farmers 'playing with tail of a lion'

MDC, farmers 'playing with tail of a lion'

• Tsvangirai floats power-sharing compromise

• ZEC says 'dangerous' to issue presidential poll result

• Mugabe wants poll re-run, results may never be known

• 5 ZEC officials 'tampered with Mugabe's votes'

• High Court rules MDC petition on results 'urgent'

• Zimbabwe has 'hung parliament and hung presidency'

• MDC reluctant to take part in run-off

• MDC lawyers barred from High Court by police

• Zanu PF claims MDC bribed ZEC officials

• MDC seeks court help to force results

• SENATE ELECTION RESULTS

• Zimbabwe could be on verge of 'failed transition'

• Mugabe faces humiliation if he enters run-off - Moyo

• Mugabe said ready for election run-off

• 'Relaxed' Mugabe seen for first time after polls

• 7 ministers fall as opposition overturns Zanu PF's majority in parliament

• MDC declares Tsvangirai new President

• Outright Tsvangirai or Mugabe victory unlikely - Moyo

• Tsvangirai refuses to declare victory

• Tsvangirai MDC may turn to rival faction to break deadlock

• ZEC invites candidates for presidential ballot count

• Zanu PF ahead, rigging fears grow

• US concerns over election results delay

• VP Mujuru not defeated, results show

• HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's government accused the opposition on Wednesday of trying to destabilise the country by claiming victory in a presidential election before results have been announced.

"The claims are basically to destabilise the country," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, one of Mugabe's closest allies, told a press conference.

The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Morgan Tsvangirai has already declared himself the outright winner over Mugabe in the election which was held on March 29.

However, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has said it needs more time to collate and verify the votes from the poll which was held on the same day as the public cast their ballots for members of parliament.

The situation in Zimbabwe has become increasingly volatile in the election aftermath with hardline Mugabe supporters launching a new wave of invasions of white-owned farms.

Chinamasa insisted that white farmers were guilty of trying to stir up trouble and looking to reverse Mugabe's land reform programme under which some 4,000 farms have been expropriated by the state since the start of the decade.

"They (the farmers) should not stoke fires, they should not play with the tail of the lion," he said.

"Any suggestion to reverse the land reforms is a non-starter. We will not take it lying down. The intention is to bring about a chaotic situation and we will not allow it.

"They only have themselves to blame for the consequences which will follow." - AFP
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