Second Round of Voting in The 2008 Zimbabwean Presidential Election - Tsvangirai's Withdrawal

Tsvangirai's Withdrawal

After a planned MDC rally in Harare on 22 June was prevented by ZANU-PF supporters, Tsvangirai announced at a press conference on the same day that he was withdrawing from the election due to the violence. He said that his supporters faced being killed if they voted for him and that under such circumstances he could not ask them to do so. According to Tsvangirai, a free and fair election was impossible for eight basic reasons: "state-sponsored violence" ("The police have been reduced to bystanders while Zanu PF militia commit crimes against humanity varying from rape, torture, murder, arson, abductions and other atrocities."); interference with the MDC's campaign, including its inability to hold rallies; the arrests of many members of the MDC, including important figures, thereby disrupting the party's organizational ability to campaign; Electoral Commission "partisanship" (although he said that the Electoral Commission was not really in control); media censorship, harassment of journalists, and the exclusion of foreign journalists; Mugabe's attitude and his suggestions that he would not accept defeat; and the existence of "an elaborate and decisive plan by Zanu PF to rig the elections", which included extensive intimidation, obstruction of MDC election agents, and ballot stuffing in the Mashonaland provinces. Tsvangirai said that the MDC would ultimately prevail and that its victory "can only be delayed".

Despite Tsvangirai's withdrawal, Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said that the second round would nevertheless be held: "The constitution does not say that if somebody drops out or decides to chicken out the runoff will not be held". Chinamasa dismissed the MDC's decision as "threats", noting that it had not been formalised; he also said that it was too late to withdraw, and that any withdrawal should have occurred at least 21 days before the first round was held. Furthermore, he said that ZANU-PF would continue its campaign and "romp to victory". According to Chinamasa, Tsvangirai had only been prepared for a "sprint", not a "marathon", and by leaving the country for a substantial period—"globe-trotting and gallivanting in Europe"—he had enabled ZANU-PF to take the advantage in campaigning. Chinamasa stated that Tsvangirai realised, after returning to Zimbabwe, that he had lost the advantage, and preferred withdrawal to suffering defeat. Additionally, Chinamasa claimed that Tsvangirai had promised 1,000 United States dollars to each of his polling agents after the first round, but had failed to pay this amount to many of them, leading them to abandon him; he also alleged that MDC supporters were wearing ZANU-PF symbols while attacking people.

According to Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, Tsvangirai took refuge at the embassy of The Netherlands in Harare late on 22 June. The police again raided Harvest House, the MDC headquarters in Harare, on 23 June; according to MDC spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka, many of those who were in Harvest House had fled the building during the raid, but he said that police took away about 40 people. Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, said that the police had taken 39 people from the building for health reasons.

Mugabe said on 24 June that ZANU-PF was "open to discussion", but that the second round must be held first. He rejected any attempts at foreign interference or judgements from those with "ulterior motives", and he asserted that the election was a sovereign matter, with the decision belonging to the people alone. He noted that some other African elections had seen hundreds of deaths, but these elections had not received as much criticism from the West; Mugabe attributed this disparity to the West's alleged control of the MDC. He also derided Tsvangirai for taking refuge in the Dutch Embassy, saying that no one wanted to attack him and that he went to the Embassy due to anxiety about losing the election.

The MDC formally submitted Tsvangirai's withdrawal to the Electoral Commission on 24 June, but the Electoral Commission did not accept the withdrawal because it considered the withdrawal to have been filed too late. Also on 24 June, according to the MDC, its Senator-elect for Chimanimani, Mayemureyi Munhuri, was taken from her home at gunpoint along with her husband; the party said that about 30 other MDC activists were also abducted on that day. MDC MP-elect Pishai Muchauraya alleged that such abductions were becoming more common following Tsvangirai's withdrawal, and he accused the government of trying to prevent the withdrawal from becoming more widely known so that the second round would appear more legitimate.

Tsvangirai said in an interview with the British newspaper The Times on 26 June that if Mugabe went ahead with the election, there would be no further possibility of negotiations and he would "not speak to an illegitimate president". He also indicated that he did not anticipate leaving the Dutch Embassy in the near future, saying that he was "the prime target" and would not "take chances" regarding his safety; he claimed that the rule of law did not exist in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Tsvangirai stressed in another statement that he did not favour military intervention.

Biti was released on bail on 26 June.