Electorate Deals a Blow to Mugabe

Voters in Zimbabwe delivered President Robert Mugabe his first electoral defeat in 20 years by rejecting a revised constitution that would have safeguarded his autocratic and increasingly unpopular rule, referendum results showed. The vote of no confidence in Mugabe’s government emboldened the opposition, and the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition group, called for the government to resign. In a television broadcast, Mugabe accepted defeat, saying voters appeared to have overcome apathy toward political participation. Election officials said 55% of voters over the weekend rejected Mugabe’s proposed changes, which would have allowed him to retain most of his powers and rule for two more five-year terms and also would have permitted the government to seize land owned by white descendants of British settlers without paying compensation.