Mugabe says he will serve full term if elected

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has vowed to serve a full five-year term in office if elected the country's leader again by the electorate, which went to the polls yesterday to end a dysfunctional powersharing government.

Mr Mugabe, the world’s oldest leader at 89, is seeking his seventh term as Zimbabwe’s president, a position he has held since 1980 when the country secured its independence from a white minority regime after a long bush war.

Talking with reporters in the morning as he cast his vote in Highfield, a suburb of Harare, Mr Mugabe was asked whether he intended to see out his term if elected. He replied: “Why not? Why should I offer myself as a candidate when I know I won’t finish my term?”

'Pinch of salt'
The night before the election, Mr Mugabe said he would stand down if he was defeated and promised the poll would be free and fair. However, his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, said he took the comment "with a pinch of salt".

Voters reportedly turned out in huge numbers in what was generally a peaceful election, a development that will hearten Mr Tsvangirai. In 2008, the presidential run-off that followed the general election was marred by widespread violence in which state agents targeted his supporters, leaving more than 200 dead.

In the early afternoon, the 69-member African Union observation team issued a statement in which it said the polling stations observed by its teams were proceeding in an orderly and peaceful manner.

Possible vote-rigging
However, the Election Resource Centre, an NGO monitoring reports of problems, said it had received multiple complaints of ballot papers running out, and people queuing up to vote finding their names were not on the register.

Mr Tsvangirai also warned that a peaceful poll did not mean vote-rigging was not under way, and his MDC colleague Tendai Biti added “the greatest worry we have is the number of people that are being turned away” from polling stations.

In the weeks leading up to the contest, Zanu-PF has been accused of planning to steal victory by manipulating the voters’ roll to stop voters from casting their ballots.

“Thousands and thousands of people are being disenfranchised by virtue of not finding their names on the voters’ roll,” Mr Biti maintained.

Mr Tsvangirai and his supporters are trying to remove Mr Mugabe and Zanu-PF from government at the third attempt in the past 11 years.

Despite the previous failures, the MDC leader was yesterday confident of victory, saying “it is not if, but when” he would oust his rival.

Mr Mugabe’s assertion that he will not step aside over the course of his presidency will have caused concern among his party faithful, as hardliners want him to stand aside mid-term so a younger person can take the former liberation movement forward while in power.

Polling stations were to close at 7pm local time last night, but officials said people in line when the time came would be allowed to make their mark in what has been hyped as the most crucial vote since 1980.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has promised the presidential and parliamentary election results will be announced by August 5th.