The lead story in the morning radio news bulletin of Zimbabwe's state-run broadcaster on 25 June was the success of the country's tobacco sales; next, the national consumer council's praise for the government's efforts to make available scarce food items was reported, followed by an announcement by Air Zimbabwe that its telephone lines were down.
There was no mention of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's momentous decision to pull out of the 27 June presidential run-off race, or any reference to the international condemnation of the political violence unleashed by Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, nor of the resultant clamour to halt the election.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has rejected Tsvangirai's withdrawal, announced informally at a press conference on Sunday. According to the state media, Mugabe and Tsvangirai would be facing off against each other, come Friday, in a hitch-free poll.
ZEC chair George Chiweshe said a letter delivered later by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), formally announcing the decision, had come too late to be accepted.
"It was unanimously agreed that the letter of withdrawal had been filed well out of time, and that the withdrawal was of no legal force or effect," Chiweshe told IRIN. "Accordingly, the commission does not recognise the purported withdrawal. We are therefore proceeding with the presidential run-off election this Friday as planned. The ballot papers have been printed and dispatched."
Luke Tamborinyoka, the MDC's director of information, noted that the state broadcaster, which had refused to air the party's campaign commercials urging the electorate to vote, was now acknowledging that the MDC had met the station's "stringent" requirements.
"Suddenly, when the MDC presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, announced that he was pulling out of the race on Sunday, ZBH [Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings] went overboard and started running our campaign adverts on Monday."
The reason seems to be to ensure that the poll is not boycotted by the electorate – and therefore undermine the legitimacy of Mugabe, the presumed victor.
A resident of Warren Park, a suburb in the capital, Harare, told IRIN that at an all-night ZANU-PF rally he had been forced to attend on 24 June, the community was told that Tsvangirai was still in the race, and voting was compulsory.
"ZANU-PF youth militia and war veterans told us that they would beat up anybody whose fingers would be clean [unmarked by the indelible ink used in voting stations]. To avoid being attacked, I will just go and spoil my ballot."
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
