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Election an exercise of mass intimidation
Morgan Tsvangirai, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
June 27, 2008

What is happening today is not an election. It is an exercise in mass intimidation with people all over the country being forced to vote.

Fortunately, Zimbabweans are attempting to stay away from the polls as they can tell the difference between democracy and a dictatorship desperate for the illusion of legitimacy.

There is nothing legitimate about this election process.

In many rural areas and some urban areas people were forced to spend the night in the open outside the polling stations.

Today they have been ordered by militia to record the serial numbers of their ballot papers to identify anyone that might vote for the MDC.

They are being told that before polls close they must gather again to await the results.

These same militia are threatening anyone that doesn't vote or who votes for the MDC with death.

Every voter in Zimbabwe has their little finger dipped in red ink. The militia are warning that tomorrow they will launch Operation Red Finger that will target anyone who has not voted.

We have also had reports that people are being forced to claim that they are illiterate so that they are then accompanied into the polling booth by a member of the militia. And yet still millions of brave Zimbabweans are resisting these threats and staying away from the polls.

Zimbabweans know that there is nothing legitimate about this election and they know that there will be nothing legitimate about the result.

This is a view shared by many African and world leaders.

Anyone who recognizes the result of this election is denying the will of the Zimbabwean people and standing in the way of a transition that will deliver stability and prosperity not just to the country, but to the region.

I am heartened by the fact that so many African leaders are now working with the MDC towards finding a lasting, peaceful solution to the Zimbabwean crisis.

These African leaders realize that it is essential that Zimbabwe joins the new Africa by joining the family of African nations where the people's right to choose their leaders and live lives free of fear and oppression is of paramount importance.

The end of this terrible, violent dictatorship is now assured, the people's victory may have been delayed by this sham election but it will never be denied.

The achievement of a New Zimbabwe where the government fulfills its responsibility to provide a stable economy, jobs, health care and education is now closer than ever.

I thank you.

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