Addressing the press Tuesday, MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said that the thousands of people who attended the party’s ‘Cross-Over Rally’ Monday were testimony that the MDC-T was headed for victory.
However, he said the party was aware that ZANU PF was putting in place mechanisms through which they intend to steal the election.
Mwonzora said information gathered by the MDC-T indicated that elections results will be handed over to military chiefs, who operate as the Joint Operations Command (JOC), before they are announced.
“From what we have gathered, the results would be handed over to JOC first before they are announced. We will obviously resist this as it is not their mandate to do so,” Mwonzora said.
Mwonzora also raised concern at what he said was the involvement of intelligence operatives in selecting polling officers.
The JOC is blamed for President Robert Mugabe’s continued stranglehold on power, after allegedly manipulating the result of the 2008 presidential elections, which was won by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Following that disputed poll and the subsequent three-party unity government, there have been calls for real security sector reforms, which have been resisted by ZANU PF.
Going into the election tomorrow, military chiefs have repeatedly said that they will not salute anyone without war credentials, a veiled threat that they will not let anyone other than Mugabe to come into power.
Discredited war vets leader Jabulani Sibanda has also been going around the country threatening villagers and announcing that his group will not “accept anyone without national values”.
In what observers say is an indirect indication that the ZANU PF regime will do ‘a 2008’, politburo member Jonathan Moyo told the state broadcaster ZTV that only a Mugabe victory will be recognised.
Speaking on Monday, Moyo is quoted telling the nation that: “If you don’t vote wisely, the baton will not be passed. President Mugabe has the final say in it all.”
In response, Mwonzora said this was a malicious attempt at intimidating Zimbabweans from exercising their democratic right to choose their own leaders.
“We object strongly to these utterances, coming on the eve of the election. Jonathan Moyo’s posturing is not only primitive but downright archaic and undemocratic,” he added.
Mwonzora urged Zimbabweans to disregard the threats and ensure a crashing defeat for ZANU PF by turning out in large numbers to vote for the MDC-T Wednesday. – SW Radio Africa News
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