Rivals of Mugabe disavow runoff

The opposition party said Thursday that it would not participate in a presidential runoff, and spokesmen for its candidate and President Robert Mugabe said both would attend an emergency summit of southern African leaders this weekend.

The Movement for Democratic Change says its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the March 29 vote outright and has accused Mugabe of delaying release of the official results to give ruling party militants time to intimidate voters and ensure that he wins a second round.

The opposition leadership met Thursday and resolved not to participate in a runoff.

“We won the presidential election hands down, without the need for a runoff,” MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti told reporters at a news conference in neighboring South Africa. Party leaders had previously said they would not accept a second round, but the party had not taken a formal stance.

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told CNN that he believed opposition politicians would be cowards if they did not contest a runoff.

“They should come, they should face the music,” he said.

Twelve days after the vote, the results from the presidential election have not been released. The High Court will decide Monday whether to grant an opposition request for the release.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has called an emergency summit of the Southern African Development Community in his nation’s capital, Lusaka, on Saturday to discuss the crisis.

“Such meetings are usually very healthy so heads of state can brief each other, not only us in Zimbabwe,” Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said. But he insisted that the meeting wasn’t necessary, saying, “There is no crisis in Zimbabwe that warrants a special meeting.”

MDC spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo confirmed that Tsvangirai would attend the summit.

Tsvangirai, who was traveling throughout the region to ask Mugabe’s peers to press him to end the standoff, was headed Thursday to South Africa to meet with President Thabo Mbeki, Mlilo said.