Zimbabwe strike doesn’t take

Opposition attempts to stage a nationwide strike to demand the release of election results largely fizzled Tuesday, as many among the small proportion of Zimbabweans with jobs reported to work.

The failure underscored the difficulty opposition leaders face in harnessing popular anger against President Robert Mugabe’s regime to try to force the release of the official vote count from the March 29 presidential ballot.

Four of every five workers in Zimbabwe are estimated to be jobless.

Some workers said they were not even aware of the strike call, a fact the opposition blamed on the government’s media monopoly.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai insists that he won the presidential election and has accused Mugabe of withholding the results to extend his 28-year grip on power. Independent monitors say their tallies show that Tsvangirai got the most votes but not enough to avoid a runoff.