 Senior ZANU-PF official Didymus Mutasa declined to comment on whether the party was planning for a Mugabe runoff against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, although another official said earlier it was ready for a vote and would win it.
 All I can confirm is there is a politburo meeting. That’s enough, that’s all I can say at the moment, said Mutasa, the party secretary for administration.
 Party sources said Mugabe, facing the biggest crisis of his 28-year rule, would chair the meeting.
 Analysts said Mugabe was believed to have convened the party leadership to discuss their next move after ZANU-PF’s first defeat in parliamentary elections and to gauge how much support there was for him running in a second round.
 All the signs are that Mugabe, a liberation war leader still respected in Africa, is in the worst trouble of his rule after facing an unprecedented challenge in the elections because of the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy.
 Although five days have passed since the presidential election, no results have been released.
  Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said earlier the party was ready for a second round, in the strongest indication yet that Mugabe intended to stand, despite calls by the opposition to concede defeat and avoid embarrassment.
 From ZANU-PF’s perspective, we are very confident that we’ve got the numbers, when it comes to a re-run, we’re ready for that second round, and we are confident that President Robert Mugabe will win this time, Matonga said.
 The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says Tsvangirai won an absolute majority in the presidential vote and no re-run is necessary.
Post published in: News