• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Zimbabwe's Opposition Challenges Mubage Win in Court

by VOA News August 09, 2013

Zimbabwe's main opposition party has filed a lawsuit challenging the election victories of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. The Movement for Democratic Change filed papers with Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court on Friday, asserting that the July 31 elections were rigged to favor the 89-year-old president.

Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told reporters the MDC wants the election 'to be declared null and void,' and a new election to be called within 90 days.

The court challenge comes a day after Zimbabwe's election commission said nearly 305,000 people were prevented from voting on election day, mainly due to problems with the list of eligible voters, and that polling officials provided 'assistance' to more than 200,000 others.

In a statement Thursday, the MDC said the election commission's statement 'vindicates' its contention that the vote was a 'monumental farce.'

The opposition group said even more people -- two million by the party's count -- were unable to register to vote because of chaos during the voter registration period.

Several Western countries have also expressed concerns about the polling, especially in the way the voters' roll was compiled, but the African Union declared the election 'free and credible,' and Mr. Mugabe has received congratulations on his victory from several African leaders.

Zimbabwe's contentious election is expected to dominate meetings of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that begin Saturday in Malawi.

Botswana, one member of the regional bloc, has called for an independent election audit. Earlier, SADC's observer mission certified the polling as 'free and peaceful,' though it stopped short of saying the election was fair.

Official results show Mugabe winning 61 percent of the vote in the July 31 election, well ahead of Tsvangirai's 34 percent.

The election victory extended Mugabe's 33-year hold on power in Zimbabwe and brought an apparent end to the power-sharing government that Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai formed after the disputed 2008 elections.