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Tsvangirai's faction to contest 2008 polls
Godfrey Mutimba, The Standard (Zimbabwe)
June 24, 2007

http://allafrica.com/stories/200706240119.html

MASVINGO - A top Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) official last week announced the Morgan Tsvangirai led faction will participate in next year's synchronized polls.

Addressing more than 20 000 people at Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo, MDC vice-president, Thokozani Khupe said party supporters should go in their thousands to register so that they could vote in next year's crucial polls.

Tsvangirai's faction had earlier this year announced that it would boycott next year's polls unless a new people-driven constitution levelling the electoral playing field is in place. But President Robert Mugabe has ruled out a new constitution.

Khupe said participating in the elections was the only democratic way of removing Zanu PF from power. As she spoke there was wild cheering from the thousands who packed Mucheke Stadium.

Supporters had told The Standard that they came to the rally in order to convince the party leadership to take part in the elections.

"We will not go to war with Zanu PF," Khupe said to cheers from the party's supporters. "The time for war is over because everyone participated in the liberation struggle and fought the common enemy. Now it's a brother to brother issue that can only be resolved through the ballot box and this time around we will show the old man (President Robert Mugabe) the exit door by going to the polls.''

She added that Zimbabwe's problems would worsen if Zanu PF's rule was not stopped.

"Youths should desist from visiting drinking places during elections where they will be drinking beer," she said. "They must go and vote if we are to remove the evil regime from power. Our people have suffered and this time we want to say enough is enough!"

Khupe said if the SADC principles governing the conduct of elections were followed, nothing would stop MDC from ruling the country.

"Our colleagues are out of the country now where they are attending the SADC negotiations. And our position still stands: we are demanding a people-driven constitution for a level playing field in the election. We are also demanding that international observers should be allowed for the elections to be free and fair," she said.

The opposition party challenged the government to allow free coverage from the public media and allow the opening of an independent daily paper before the elections saying the public media was being abused by the ruling party.

"Zanu PF is afraid of the opposition, that is why it doesn't allow us space in the public media especially on the electronic media. What we want for next year is equal coverage be it in the newspapers or on TV. They must call our president Tsvangirai and Mugabe and tell the nation on TV what their parties can offer the country,'' she said.

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