All Bore is not as smart as Robert Mugabe, simple as that!
Posted on 04/12/2008 8:44:31 PM PDT by blam
Recount of all votes in Zimbawe election
By Sebastien Berger in Lusaka and Gethin Chamberlain
Last Updated: 2:17am BST 13/04/2008
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will recount all votes cast in the March 29 election next Saturday, the state media has said.
The Sunday Mail quoted Justice George Chiweshe, the ZEC chairman, as saying ballots cast in parliamentary, presidential and council votes would be counted again in the presence of party representatives, candidates and observers.
The surprise announcement came as regional leaders met in Zambia to discuss a two-week delay in releasing results of the presidential poll which has raised fears of violence in Zimbabwe.
A diplomatic source described the move as a "cop out".
Opponents of President Robert Mugabe fear that the president's supporters will use the recount to add bogus votes to their total, securing a rigged victory.
The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, called the recount a "de facto coup", adding: "How can they recount before the results have been announced?"
The Sunday Mail referred specifically to 23 constituencies and it was not clear from the article whether all or only some of the results would be recounted.
The recount could overturn the already announced victory by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the parliamentary vote.
Earlier, Mr Mugabe rebuffed international attempts to end the political crisis, accusing Britain of interfering, and swatting aside calls from Gordon Brown to release the results. The Zimbabwean president flew into a rage during a meeting in Harare with his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt, refusing to join a summit of regional leaders to discuss the crisis and calling it "a show staged by Britain".
Mr Brown described reports of fresh violence in the wake of the poll as "appalling" and demanded that the election results be published immediately. "The democratic rights of the Zimbabwean people have got to be respected," he said.
"They have voted. The presidential election results have not been announced. We cannot wait any longer."
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, wrote to his Conservative and Liberal Democrat shadows to say there was now a "constitutional crisis" in Zimbabwe.
But Mr Mugabe dismissed comments by Mr Brown that the world was losing patience.
"If Brown is the world, sure, he will lose patience. I know Brown as a little tiny dot on this planet," he said.
As southern African leaders gathered to discuss the crisis at the summit in Lusaka hosted by the Zambian president, Levy Mwanawasa, Mr Mugabe stayed in Harare.
He agreed to see Mr Mbeki before the summit, but sources said he had rebuffed a final plea to attend. Afterwards he made it clear that he had no intention of bowing to pressure and branded the Zambian president "a puppet of the British".
Mr Mwanawasa called the meeting of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) amid growing concern over the delayed results. Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims that its presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the poll, but Mr Mugabe appears to be holding out for a second round of voting.
Mr Mwanawasa opened the summit by declaring that Mr Mugabe was "not in the dock", but added that the solution to the country's "electoral impasse" had to be "acceptable to the people" of Zimbabwe.
"At critical times great men and women have taken bold steps for the benefit of their people," he said. "That time has come."
But hopes of change had already been set back when Mr Mbeki emerged from his meeting in Harare earlier in the day, to insist that events in Zimbabwe should be allowed to run their course. Of the lack of a declared election result, two weeks after voting, he said: "I wouldn't describe that as a crisis. It's a normal electoral process in Zimbabwe." His remarks infuriated delegates to the summit.
"That is just insane," said Jenny Williams, national co-ordinator of the protest group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise. Mr Mugabe claimed that he was too busy to attend the summit — instead sending a group of ministers in protest at the invitation to Mr Tsvangirai, who did attend. Diplomats said they expected the communique issued after the SADC meeting to be relatively bland, but said Harare's delegation would be pressed to release the results and hold a free and fair run-off.
"Most governments in the region privately confirm that they know Mugabe has lost the election," one said. But the diplomat added that the SADC would be hard pushed to act firmly. The summit negotiations went into an unscheduled third session last night as delegates argued word by word over the communique.
The extension of talks may imply that more substantive discussions than usual were going on, but clearly indicated disagreement. Zimbabwe's opposition said Mr Mugabe had used the military in effect to carry out a coup, and urged the regional leaders to end his "dictatorship".
With reports of further violence and seizures of white-owned farms emerging from Zimbabwe, the government took another step to tighten its grip on the country, banning the MDC from holding public demonstrations.
The party had planned a rally tomorrow and intends to call a general strike from Tuesday. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, reported credible information suggesting a programme of "co-ordinated retribution against known and suspected opposition supporters".
The Sunday Telegraph has been shown extracts from a secret document purportedly sent to Augustine Chihuri, commissioner general of the Zimbabwean police, listing teachers and other civil servants across the country suspected of supporting the MDC.
The full list is said to contain 1,000 names, including primary school teachers. The MDC has gone to court to try to force the election commission to release the results, and a judge has promised a verdict tomorrow .
Zim Ping.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Hanging chads will have a whole new meaning.
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"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Jimmy Carter will surely announce everything has been handled far better than is possible in the United States and that, whatever the results, it should stand as an example for all the world to follow.
According to an article I read earlier this week, a recount is explicitly unconstitutional. The only legal thing for Mugabe to do is release the results, and if no one recieved 50%, then go to a runoff. This is way beyond the constitution now.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The reason for the recount is that Mugabi lost big time, just like Gore n 2000. In both cases, the usurpers were seeking to "handle the ballots". The insidious Democrats have brought us that much closer to a third world dictatorship. God, I hate them so.
Send Jimma Carter over . . . he will make sure Mugabe gets another term.
Mugabe like a good RAT is going to count and recount and recount ‘em again and again until the count comes out right, that is until he wins then the counting stops. Mayor Daly must be beaming up for the pits of h*ll at this turn of events. Kind of reminds me of the elections out in Washington state and the one in LA-LA land that put B1 Bob out of office, no recount if the PC people win.
Yeah, I didn't think Brown expressing his displeasure would have much impact.
I’m sure Mugabe will release the results and I’m also sure they will show that he won a resounding victory. Dictators always win resounding victories.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
A recount before the original vote count is announced — why didn’t Al Gore think of that!
All Bore is not as smart as Robert Mugabe, simple as that!
(sigh) Jimmy Carter...who ever would have thought that an American president would turn out to be such an anti-American, pro-terrorist nutcase?
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