Zimbabwe: Main opposition vows not to quit elections

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) - Zimbabwe’s main opposition MDC Alliance has vowed not to quit the race ahead of next week’s elections, despite disagreements with the country’s electoral authority.

Nelson Chamisa, the party’s presidential candidate, made the announcement Wednesday at a press conference in the Zimbabwean capital Harare.

The announcement followed a deadlock over the grievances the party presented to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for Monday's elections -- the first-ever since the end of the 37-year reign of strongman Robert Mugabe.

“Contrary to the perceptions that we are going to quit the election, we can’t boycott the election, we can’t boycott our people, winners don’t quit,” Chamisa, 40, told reporters at MDC Alliance headquarters.

He said his party will not accept any result which does not put them in the lead.

Among its demands, the MDC Alliance sought to have political parties included in guarding the ballots during and after the polls.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, visiting as part of an Elders Council, said some of the demands by Zimbabwe’s political parties were unreasonable.

Chamisa also cast doubt on the authenticity of the ballot papers set to be used in the elections.

“At this stage there is no evidence whatsoever of how many ballot papers are there, how many have been printed so far, who printed them, where they have been printed,” he said.

While Chamisa spoke, his supporters thronged the entrance to the party headquarters, chanting, singing, and dancing in support of Chamisa ahead of the elections.

So far the opposition MDC Alliance has addressed 74 rallies countrywide in both rural and urban areas, drawing huge crowds of supporters.

As the elections draw closer, the opposition has also vowed to start celebrating victory before the announcement of the results, a sign that violence could follow the election.