Addressing journalists at his Highlands residence in Harare this afternoon, Tsvangirai said his party disputed the elections because the electoral process was manipulated in favour of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF).
“We will not legitimise the illegitimate. Instead of celebrating, the people of Zimbabwe are in national mourning, including those in Zanu (PF),” he said.
Tsvangirai said this party had resolved that they were going to explore all the legal avenues to resolve the electoral impasse.
“Zanu (PF) knows that they need the MDC. Even if they come to us asking for a coalition, we will not accept it. Zimbabweans needs a fresh opportunity to elect a government of their choice. We need elections as soon as possible,” he said.
Tsvangirai called on the Southern Africa Development Community and the African Union to ‘urgently meet to restore sanity in Zimbabwe.”
“We need an urgent forensic audit of the whole electoral process, voters’ roll and the whole voting process. I will furnish the regional bodies with a dossier indicating the irregularities of the whole electoral process.
“We have evidence indicating that this election was rigged. For example in Muzarabani, Mashonaland Central, out of the 17, 000 people who voted, close to 10, 500 were assisted voters despite that the majority of them were literate,” he said.
He told journalists that although the party was aware that the courts were biased towards Zanu (PF) because they were appointees of the party, the MDC was going to challenge the poll outcome soon after the announcement of results.
“We are going to seek recourse through the courts although the presiding judges were appointed unconstitutionally,” he said.
Asked to comment why his party took part in a process that they knew was flawed, Tsvangirai said his party was optimistic that the whole electoral process would reflect the will of the people.
Post published in: News