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Zvinavashe concedes after recount, takes aim at Mugabe
VIGIL: A police officer keeps guard as ballot boxes are
checked before the recount began Saturday
By
Fikile
Mapala
THE losing Zanu PF Senate candidate for Gutu constituency General Vitalis
Zvinavashe has blamed President Robert Mugabe for the party’s
poor showing in Masvingo Province after a recount of ballots in his
constituency failed to change the party’s fortunes.
The former army commander also urged fellow Zanu PF candidates at a counting centre in the province to live with the reality that they had indeed lost the elections to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zvinavashe, a former army commander who once vowed he would never salute Tsvangirai, spoke Wednesday while addressing Zanu PF House of Assembly and local council election candidates during the recounting of ballots for three constituencies at Gutu rural district council offices in Masvingo.
Zvinavashe said: “There is no need to fight over these results. We must accept the reality that we have lost these elections to the MDC. What is important is to live together in peace, both losers and winners. We do not want violence in this area. We are relatives.”
The former Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief startled election officials and agents when he publicly suggested that Zanu PF candidates in Masvingo had lost because of the party’s presidential candidate President Robert Mugabe.
He said: “Most of us lost these elections not because we are not popular in our constituencies. We lost these harmonised elections because of one man.
“People rejected us because we were campaigning for Mugabe. People in Masvingo have rejected him and we became collateral damage. There is no reason to fight with the MDC over this election. The real problem is that man not us.”
The revealing remarks by Zvinavashe were made in the presence of MDC candidates and polling agents who were at the counting centre.
Recounts were underway in 23 constituencies where Zanu PF claimed President Mugabe and Zanu PF’s ballots had been undercounted by corrupt election officials who took money from the MDC. Of the 23, two recounts were triggered by the MDC.
Zanu PF hopes to overturn its defeat in parliamentary elections after losing its majority to the MDC for the first time in the March 29 elections. Results of the presidential election are still being withheld almost a month after voting, amid growing international concerns that the country could be lurching towards violence.
Zvinavashe is said to have advised his chief election agent Bertha Chikwama -- the losing Zanu PF parliamentary candidate for Gutu East -- to abandon the recounting process saying it was “a waste of time” since nothing would change.
On Sartuday, police had to intervene when Zanu PF candidates Lovemore Matuke, Shuvai Mahofa and their polling agents threatened to attack opposition candidates following a misunderstanding over the recounting process.
Zvinavashe, who lost the election to Empire Makamure of the MDC, urged Zanu PF candidates to shun violence but to ensure peaceful co-existence with members of the opposition in the province.
The MDC retained all the three recounted constituencies in the rural district – a former Zanu PF stronghold. MDC candidates Eliphas Mukonoweshuro (Gutu South), Oliver Chirume (Gutu Central) and Edmore Maramwidze (Gutu North) said they had retained their seats at the close of recounting Wednesday afternoon.
Gutu central legislator Chirume said it he was now the official MP for Gutu Central after ZEC officials announced the new results which had given him an increased lead.
He said: “It’s now official. The recounting is over and I am still the winner. The only difference now is that the margin is now wider than before. Zanu PF is history here.”
The MP confirmed his two colleagues had also retained their seats after the recount.
Recounts are also being carried out in Chimanimani West, Mutare West, Bikita West, Bikita South, Bulilima East, Zhombe, Zaka East, Zvimba North, Silobela, Chiredzi North, Gokwe-Kabuyuni, Buhera South, Lupane East, Mberengwa East, West, South, North, Masvingo Central and Masvingo West.
Goromonzi West has
already been declared to Zanu PF almost unchanged from the initial result.
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