Former finance minister on vote rigging as Mugabe party heads for likely victory скачать в хорошем качестве

Former finance minister on vote rigging as Mugabe party heads for likely victory

(3 Aug 2013) SHOTLIST AP TELEVISION Harare - 30 July 2013 1. Wide of Simba Makoni, leader of the Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) political party, dancing at Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's final rally 2. Wide of Makoni waving 3. Wide of Makoni talking to the crowd Harare - 3 August 2013 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Simba Makoni, leader of the MKD political party and former Finance Minister: "Well, my worst case scenario was that they would rig to restore the 2008 position and then they would bargain for an accommodation. My best case scenario was that the candidates for change would win comfortably. They have rigged to an extent that very few of us had countenanced and so they present a completely unforeseen situation." Harare - 30 July 2013 5. Wide of Makoni chatting with Tsvangirai at rally Harare - 3 August 2013 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Simba Makoni, leader of the MKD political party and former Finance Minister: "Well, first of all at this stage I don't know that it's a given that Mugabe will be president. There are many issues that surround the results which are being announced at the moment. And bear in mind the presidential results are not being announced yet and the parliamentary results even are are not yet complete. So I am not accepting as a given that Mugabe will be our president. But they obviously engineered the process to make Mugabe our president. Whether he (Mugabe) is there for five years or two days it really doesn't make a difference, Zimbabweans must brace themselves for more suffering." Harare - 29 August 2013 7. Wide of Makoni with Tsvangirai at rally 8. Mid of Makoni STORYLINE A former Zimbabwean minister says elections held last Wednesday were rigged in favour of President Robert Mugabe. Simba Makoni, who once served as Mugabe's Finance Minister, said on Saturday that other parties had anticipated Mugabe's party Zimbabwe Africa National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) would attempt to rig the election but underestimated the scale of the deception. "They have rigged to an extent that very few of us had countenanced and so they present a completely unforeseen situation," he said. Independent election monitors have alleged many people were unable to vote because of disorganised voters' lists and a chaotic program to register electors on those lists in the run-up to polling day. Observers said a significant number of ballot booklets also had missing ballot papers and papers without serial numbers. By late Friday, official results announced by the Election Commission showed Mugabe's party capturing 129 of the 210 parliament seats and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party winning 42 seats. Those results put Mugabe close to a two-thirds majority that would allow him to alter a constitution that was approved in a referendum earlier this year. However, Makoni said it is not guaranteed Mugabe will become president. "I am not accepting as a given that Mugabe will be our president. But they obviously engineered the process to make Mugabe our president," he said. However Makoni warned that is Mugabe was re-elected, difficult times may be ahead. "Whether he (Mugabe) is there for five years or two days it really doesn't make a difference, Zimbabweans must brace themselves for more suffering," he said. Full results on the presidential and parliament votes have been promised by Monday. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...