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Zimbabwe opposition head says election tied to talks
MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters
September 29, 2007

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29345971.htm

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader said on Saturday his party's participation in national elections next year would depend on negotiations with President Robert Mugabe's government.

In a rally marking the eighth anniversary of the establishment of the Movemement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai said Mugabe must end political repression and allow millions of exiles to vote before the joint presidential and parliamentary elections could be held.

"Those are our benchmarks for a free and fair election. We will not expect anything less in these elections," Tsvangirai, who heads the largest of two MDC factions, told 4,000 supporters in a stadium in Masvingo, 292 km (183 miles) south of Harare.

"We want to participate, but we do not want a pre-determined election," said Tsvangirai, who was among several dozen anti-Mugabe activists arrested and beaten in policy custody after an aborted protest rally in March.

That crackdown prompted international protests and renewed calls for Mugabe, 83, to introduce democratic reforms or step down.

A grouping of southern African nations later asked South African President President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the MDC factions to lay the groundwork for the elections.

Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has vowed to run for another five-year term in 2008 despite widespread accusations that his government has abused human rights and destroyed the once-prosperous economy.

Zimbabweans are struggling with soaring poverty, inflation of about 6,600 percent and chronic shortages. Thousands every day cross illegally into South Africa to look for food and work.

Mugabe's government blames sabotage by Britain and other Western nations.

The situation has worsened in the past three months since the government launched a radical price rollback scheme to stem inflation. The measures have led stores to stop stocking milk, bread and other basics, pushing the economy toward collapse.

"I want to tell President Thabo Mbeki and the United Nations Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) that Zimbabwe is suffering a severe humanitarian crisis. We are no longer just a political crisis," Tsvangirai said on Saturday.

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