He made the remarks while addressing thousands of his supporters at a star rally in Gweru on Sunday.
Tsvangirai said in previous elections Mugabe used violence to win the polls but is now aware that the international community would condemn and isolate him.
“This time around Mugabe wants to avoid a scenario where violence is used to win the elections because he is fully aware that the international community will condemn him and reject the outcome like in the past. So he has devised a new strategy of manipulating ZEC,” saidTsvangirai.
Mugabe was forced to form a coalition government with the two MDCs formations after a sham presidential runoff in 2008 whose results were dismissed as illegitimate even by SADC.
Tsvangirai accused the electoral body, ZEC, of failing to conduct credible special voting for police and other uniformed forces who would be on duty when the country goes for elections on July 31.
“ZEC failed to have adequate ballots for police and a few soldiers to vote. By doing that they denied eligible Zimbabweans their right to vote. So how will they be trusted with overseeing an election of about 6 million people. It shows that it is a new strategy for Mugabe to rig elections,” added Tsvangirai.
The MDC president also pointed out that ZEC has said it will print 8 million ballot papers when 6 million people are the ones who are registered to vote.
“It all shows how Mugabe has devised a new way of rigging the elections. We are watching them and they will not succeed,” Tsvangirai assured his supporters.
Post published in: News