HARARE, June 23 – Zimbabwe’s ruling party said Monday that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s decision to withdraw from this week’s presidential run-off was a ruse, and urged its supporters to campaign hard.
"ZANU-PF is not treating the threats seriously," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted as saying by the state-run newspaper, The Herald.
"It is a nullity. We are proceeding with our campaign to romp to victory on Friday," Chinamasa said.
Tsvangirai announced Sunday that he was pulling out of Friday’s run-off election against President Robert Mugabe, saying pre-poll violence had made a fair vote impossible.
But Chinamasa said the Zimbabwe Election Commission had yet to formally receive the opposition’s formal notice of withdrawal.
"This is the 11th time that Tsvangirai has threatened to withdraw from the presidential run off and on each occasion I have challenged him to put it in writing as required by law," he said.
About The Author
