Robert Mugabe Inaugurated in Zimbabwe For New Five-Year Term

Advertising

Robert Mugabe was sworn in for another five-year term in Zimbabwe today. He received more than 2 million votes and opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai got 233,000. About 131,000 ballots were defaced and around 42 percent of the population participated in the voting.

Tsvangirai won the first round of voting but he pulled out amid threats of violence against him and his supporters. Mugabe and his Zanu-PF henchmen would note cede power to the opposition leader.

However, Mugabe offered an invitation to Tsvangirai for attendance at the inauguration. Tsvangirai asked the African Union not to recognize the election results. ''Mr. Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, told Reuters that the invitation was ''done in the spirit of the president's wish to reach out...It is a major step towards political engagement.''

Many other African leaders want the African Union (AU) to do something starting tomorrow when they hold a summit in Egypt. Mr. Mugabe says that he will be present at the summit. The AU wants some type of negotiated settlement to begin between Mugabe's party and opposition leader Tsvangirai.

Although Mugabe won the tainted election, a power sharing national unity might take place to quell the violence. He wants the Zanu-PF Party to retain the presidency even if he has to step down.

The voting has been chaotic where 80 people have been killed and another 200,000 or so people have been forced to flee their homes as the government troops have attacked opposition supporters.

According to Human Rights Watch, Mugabe supporters have beaten people who haven't voted. A person's finger has to be stained with red ink proving that they have voted. Mugabe's thugs systematically checked out people to verify whether or not they had the red ink stain on their finger.

Independent voting observers have strongly suggested that many people voted out of fear and quite a few purposefully spoiled their ballots rather than casting a vote for Mugabe. For example, in Bulawayo, which is an opposition stronghold, Mugabe received 21,127 votes, Tsvangirai got 13,291 but 9,166 ballots were defaced.

Marwick Khumalo is a member of the Swaziland parliament who is the head of an election observer group that is sponsored by the AU Pan-African Parliament. He told the press that some of the defaced ballots expressed hostility toward Mugabe. ''The current atmosphere prevailing in the country did not give rise to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.''

Although Mugabe won, the world community and the African Union don't recognize his victory as legitimate so he isn't going to have much leverage at the negotiating table.