This information is forwarded in an attemptÂto balance the biased and unprofessional coverage by FSRN, which seems toÂparrot the western media's propaganda line. FAN ZIMBABWE UPDATE...JUNE 26TH on the ground with December 12th Movement, Please read and forward to your contacts... Run-off still on: ZEC Herald Reporter THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday unanimously agreed to proceed with the presidential run-off election tomorrow as scheduled because Morgan Tsvangiraiâs withdrawal has no legal force since it was filed out of time. ZEC â which was appointed by Zanu-PF and MDC-T â and all other political parties that contested the March 29 harmonised elections, under the Sadc-brokered talks, said it has since advised Tsvangirai about the decision in writing. ZEC chairman Justice George Chiweshe said the poll would go ahead as Tsvangirai, who claims his security is under threat, briefly left the Dutch embassy in Harare to address a Press conference at his Strathaven home in Harare. Tsvangirai called for military intervention in Zimbabwe disguised as peacekeepers and the setting-up of a transitional government supervised by the African Union and Sadc. Addressing journalists, Justice Chiweshe said the commission had deliberated on the content and effect of Tsvangiraiâs letter in which he cited various reasons and concluded that the withdrawal was a nullity. "It was unanimously agreed that the withdrawal had, inter alia, been filed well out of time and that for that reason the withdrawal was of no legal force or effect. "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. We are advising Mr Tsvangirai accordingly, " he said. Justice Chiweshe said the electoral law stipulates the period during which a candidate must file a withdrawal letter. "I do not want to go into that. We will be writing to Mr Tsvangirai on the issue," he said. When asked whether the withdrawal by Tsvangirai would have an effect on the legitimacy of the poll, Justice Chiweshe said: "The pullout has no legal force. In fact, there has been no pullout." Justice Chiweshe said the commission was ready for the elections and that the results of the presidential run-off would be announced as soon as they were ready. Constitutional law experts have said Tsvangirai cannot pull out of the run-off now and even though he has written to ZEC, the decision was of no legal force. "The strict legal position is that candidature for the run-off or second election is not a voluntary exercise; you give your consent when you contest the first election," lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said. Political analysts have described Tsvangiraiâs withdrawal announcement, which was made just before the UN Security Council met to discuss Zimbabwe, as a ploy to create a bleak picture of the Zimbabwean situation. The Dutch foreign ministry yesterday confirmed Tsvangirai returned to their embassy. Zanu-Ndonga has joined the list of organisations that have castigated the opposition leader for his decision to withdraw from the poll. "Boycotting without offering an alternative is not the solution. The decision to pull out does not make any political sense," said Zanu-Ndonga secretary-general Mr Reketayi Semwayo at a Press conference. The partyâs national organising secretary, Mr Gondai Vutuza, said it is Zimbabweans who have the mandate to find a solution to the challenges facing the country and not outsiders as claimed by Tsvangirai. "Zimbabweans should decide their future and not any other person. It is us who should decide. "The two presidential candidates should engage each other for political dialogue with a view to coming up with a solution. The search for solutions should obviously include every stakeholder, " said Mr Vutuza. Late yesterday, the Sadc election observer mission said it would remain in Zimbabwe until after the June 27 run-off, and that it was not bound by the decision of the Troika on Politics, Defence and Security, which met in Mbabane, Swaziland, yesterday. Head of the election observer mission Angolan Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture Mr Jose Marcos Barrica told journalists that the issue of whether or not there are elections in Zimbabwe is the responsibility of the Zimbabwean Government and ZEC. "We will stay put until after June 27 be there elections or not. We may have our ideas, but that is the responsibility of the authorities, " he said. Mr Barrica said the mission was only bound by Sadc and not the troika. He said the mission had made inroads in trying to bring the political players in Zimbabwe to the negotiating table. "There are positive signals that can take the process forward. There is light at the end of the tunnel that can bring the two sides together. We think we have the way prepared for the leadership to go forward," he said. Responding to questions on the missionâs position following reports that members of the Sadc troika that met yesterday in Swaziland had recommended that tomorrowâs run-off be postponed, Mr Barrica said the troika only deliberates on issues and does not make resolutions. Leaders boycott Sadc summit on Zimbabwe Herald Reporters A meeting of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security in Swaziland to ratchet up pressure on Zimbabwe to call off tomorrowâs presidential election run-off flopped yesterday after Angola, the chair, and South Africa, the mediator, boycotted the summit. A Government official, who is well-versed with the operations of Sadc, yesterday said Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his South African counterpart Mr Thabo Mbeki â the Sadc-appointed mediator for Zimbabwe â did not attend the summit. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and King Mswati of Swaziland attended the meeting. "It was a bilateral meeting between two countries, it can never be a troika meeting. Troika means three and the deputy chair cannot call a meeting when the chair is there. "Their resolution has no force in respect to Sadc, let alone Zimbabwe. The two countries (Tanzania and Swaziland) are only expressing an obligation to the Western world," said the official. Tanzania and Swaziland called for the postponement of the presidential run-off. Political analysts said Sadc needs to stand by President Mugabe since there were concerted efforts by Britain, America and their allies to divide the regional grouping and give space to their regime change agenda. The analysts said Britain and the United States were clandestinely holding separate talks with Sadc member states in order to entice the regional bloc to change its stance and isolate Zimbabwe. "Recently, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa admitted that he was being pressurised by the British and Americans to isolate Zimbabwe. "Sadc should also be cognisant of the fact that a weaker Sadc, without strongmen like President Mugabe, could easily give in to demands by the US such as the setting up of its military base, the Africom, which it is desperate to establish by September 2008. So Sadc needs to rally behind Zimbabwe now than ever before. "It is clear that if Sadc stands firmly with Zimbabwe, the West will say it is not effective and democratic, but what is happening in Zimbabwe can happen to any other Sadc country. So the solution is for Sadc to remain focused on supporting President Mugabe,ââ said one analyst. Last night, Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development Minister Cde Ignatius Chombo said MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai was a political weakling who never takes any "struggle" to the bitter end. "He lacks determination, stamina and endurance to see things to the bitter end," Cde Chombo said. "He has tried to pre-empt his imminent defeat on Friday by pulling out." After their attempts to get the United Nations Security Council to declare Tsvangirai president of Zimbabwe failed on Tuesday, the US and British governments have now resorted to shrill threats in their attempts to stop the presidential run-off set for tomorrow. On Monday, London and Washington unsuccessfully tried to get the Security Council to declare Tsvangirai the ââlegitimate presidentââ of Zimbabwe basing on the March 29 elections but other members â led by China, Russia and South Africa â indicated that it would be illegal to stop the run-off. Legal experts across the political divide have since indicated that the run-off is a legal fait accompli. Western media yesterday quoted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, during his weekly question time, threatening to push the European Union for more sanctions against Zimbabwe as US Ambassador to Zimbabwe James D. McGee issued a veiled threat to the Government, saying ââthe US would take âexpectedâ stepsââ. The EU imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe following the expulsion of Pierre Schori, head of its observer mission to the 2002 presidential poll, for violating his visa conditions. This is the second time in as many months that McGee has threatened violence on the State following a letter he wrote to the media last month, saying the US was gathering ââevidence of the atrocities being committedââ so that the perpetrators can be brought to book. McGee called on Sadc to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe, saying that would not be difficult since Zimbabwe was landlocked, though he expressed pessimism that Sadc would sell out Zimbabwe. Brownâs threats came as the England and Wales Cricket Board backed his decision to ban Zimbabweâs cricket team from the UK. "We want to ensure that Zimbabwe does not tour England next year," Brown said. "And we will call on other countries to join us in banning Zimbabwe from the Twenty20 tournament," which is being held in Britain next year. Zimbabwe was scheduled to play next June in the Twenty20 World Cup in England. The team was also due to play England in two Tests and three one-day matches. Analysts said the desperation by Tsvangirai and his allies in London and Washington was clear proof that they knew their game was up in Zimbabwe. Our sovereignty not negotiable The Herald, Harare, June 26th... EVENTS since Sunday have exposed the Anglo-Saxon game plan, that is regime change in Zimbabwe at all costs even if it means trashing the Constitution to get their man, Morgan Tsvangirai, into power. This should come as a sobering thought to all who have been swayed by Western claims that London and Washingtonâs support for Tsvangirai is in pursuit of good governance, rule of law and democracy. We all know the Westernersâ record on these values, and we would have to be monumental fools to believe their rhetoric. It all began with Tsvangiraiâs announcement on Sunday that he was withdrawing from the run-off, a position legal experts â even those close to him â have since dismissed as untenable and unconstitutional. This move was meant to set the stage for the extra-judicial attempts to anoint Tsvangirai president of Zimbabwe. We saw this manifest in attempts by Britain and the US to effect a coup through the Security Council which they wanted to declare Tsvangirai the ââlegitimate president of Zimbabweââ yet we have a binding Constitution detailing how the presidency is elected. When that move was shot down by progressives, came Tsvangiraiâs call for a military invasion of Zimbabwe, which was immediately echoed by Washington, which threatened unspecified action, should the run-off proceed. Tsvangirai, yesterday, wrote an opinion piece in the British newspaper, The Guardian, calling for the deployment of a foreign military force that he said should oversee ââtransitionââ. We could not help but remember reading similar language in a document titled, ââThe Transition Strategyââ, that exposed how Tsvangirai approached the British government grovelling for a military offensive. Though MDC-T leaders disowned the document, which set conditions for a virtual return to Rhodesia, their utterances and actions have since confirmed our worst fears. As we report elsewhere in this issue, the Anglo-Saxon alliance has emerged as the real power behind Tsvangirai and his MDC-T as they are threatening military action and further sanctions if the run-off is not cancelled. We find it odd, though hardly surprising, that at every stage of this campaign and even the previous one, Tsvangiraiâs statements and positions have always dovetailed with those from London and Washington. If anyone had any doubt as to the identity of the forces confronting us today, those doubts should be dispelled by the voices around Tsvangirai today. As Zimbabweans we will never bow down to threats from, and accept to be lectured by the evil regimes in London and Washing- ton. We won our right to self-determination 28 years ago, after a bitter 14-year struggle against the Smith regime that had the tacit support of London and Washington. What is more, over the past eight years we have withstood concerted attempts at economic strangulation, again largely on our own. As such, we cannot begin now to take instructions from anyone, let alone our avowed enemies. Our independence and sovereignty are not negotiable, never to be sacrificed for political expediency. MDC-T: An unmistakable stooge By Tafataona P Mahoso By begging to be allowed to sleep in the Dutch Embassy on the eve of a Zimbabwean election in which he is supposed to be elected President, Morgan Tsvangirai has finally and openly shown where his real constituency is: in the North Atlantic states of Europe and North America. President Mugabe does not need to say more: Morgan is indeed much more than a Zimbabwean lost child. His constituency is in Europe and he will be elected the best Euro-American puppet of the country while having tea and Dutch cheese in the Dutch Embassy in Harare. Unfortunately, for MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirai, British and US foreign policy toward Zimbabwe is being led by men and women who cannot even write an undergraduate paper on African affairs. Their success in bringing the subject of Zimbabweâs election for discussion at the Security Council will help inflame the popular and unmistakable anger of the people of Zimbabwe which David Milliband and Jendayi Fraser are incapable of reading. The popular anger in Zimbabwe against MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirai, against British, US and EU foreign policy, can best be illustrated by referring back to that popular song from 1980: Yaramba, povo yaramba, Munyika mayo, zvemadhisinyongoro. Yaramba, povo yaramba munyika muno, zvemadhisinyongoro. There is no English equivalent to this expression of Shona outrage, but the following translation may come close: The people, the majority, condemn, reject all the sickening external attempts to confuse, manipulate, disorganise and overwhelm them. This was used in 1980 to express the contempt and anger of the people of Zimbabwe against the role of foreign powers in the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia project of Ian Smith and Bishop Abel Muzorewa. Coming to the on-going efforts by the UK, the EU and the US to merge their foreign policies in support of MDC-T and against Zimbabwe, the following expressions of those policies on the ground in Zimbabwe have helped to incense popular opinion: l In the first category are the acts of racist scandalisation and contempt against the war veterans of the Second Chimurenga which acts have been undertaken by MDC-T since the formation of the MDC in 1999. The people are aware the war against the veterans of the Second Chimurenga was started by the Rhodesian settler minority in Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU back in 1997, when the Government of Zimbabwe decided to pay the same war veterans a small gratuity of 50 000 Zimbabwe Dollars. The current leaders of MDC-T were still in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. They, together with the Rhodesians, the World Bank and the IMF opposed and condemned payment of the small gratuity. The IMF and the World Bank were representing British, US and EU imperialist interests. The bitterness of the British, EU and US opposition to the gratuity at the time seemed surprising, but it was a harbinger of future attacks. Now, the people of Zimbabwe know that the World Bank and the US Marshall Plan in fact paid and resettled white war veterans of the Hitler wars. Some of those were paid to settle in Zimbabwe under the Rhodesian African Land Husbandry Act of 1951. But, as Presidential Press Secretary Cde George Charamba pointed out on radio on 24 June 2008, what has outraged the people of Zimbabwe against the UK, the US, the EU and their stooges in the MDC-T is the combined and coordinated desecration, contempt and murder directed against war veterans. As the people who vowed to die to liberate this country, these war veterans represent the bones of arch-heroine Mbuya Nehanda who vowed before she was executed in 1896 that "My bones shall rise." The war veterans of the Second Chimurenga are the resurrected bones of Mbuya Nehanda. How dare the UK, the US and the EU finance MDC-T to attack, desecrate and destroy those resurrected bones, the war veteran, yet again? l In the second place are the despicable, diabolic, racist and illegal sanctions which the UK, the US, the EU and their allies have tried to hide under the fig-leaf of humanitarian relief which, in the hands of NGOs in Zimbabwe, has also been exposed. The continual claims that there are no real economic sanctions; that there are only selective and smart sanctions targeted at President Robert Mugabe and his cronies; have outraged the people of Zimbabwe against the policies of these countries and against MDC-T. The people have looked back and realised that the transformation of the entire Zimbabwean economy: from a credit and savings economy to a cash economy run by speculating middlemen, started at the very same time that the 500 or so foreign companies from the UK, the US and the EU joined hands with the ZCTU to organise "stayaways". In fact the very first such "stay away" was organised by such companies against the 50 000 Zimbabwe Dollars paid to war veterans; but that stay away was disguised as a protest against high taxes. The denials of the reality of sanctions made on television by Learnmore Jongwe (18 July 2001); Nelson Chamisa (21 May 2008); Douglas Mwonzora (1 June 2008); Obert Gutu (8 June 2008; and Tongai Mathuthu (15 June 2008) are identical to those issued by the EU Presidency in the second week of February 2002; or by the UK Embassy in Harare on numerous occasions through its magazine Britain and Zimbabwe; or by former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell on 2 November 2005 at Africa University. In other words, the African puppets of imperialism in MDC are such stooges that for the last nine years they have not dared to change even a single word of the imperialist rationalisation for the illegal and racist sanctions imposed on the people of Zimbabwe. They routinely deny the peopleâs daily experience of sanctions in exactly the same language used by the imperialists themselves. l In the third place, the people of Zimbabwe are outraged by the fact that white racism and contempt for the African is shown most clearly when the white racists and imperialists think they are being most kind and most helpful to Africans. A few instances can be used to illustrate this fact. George Bush, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have frequently announced to the whole world how little the money is which they have spent to purchase the whole Movement for Democratic Change and to insure its cooperation; not only in efforts to destroy Zimbabwe, but also in redirecting the countryâs economic policies for benefit of the US, the UK and the EU if the MDC were to win elections and take over this country. The latest announced amounts of pieces of silver paid were Â3,3 million from the UK, 18 million Australian Dollars from Australia, and US$7 million from the US government. Moreover, the ways in which the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the US and the EU follow the daily fortunes and misfortunes of MDC-T are no different from the ways the owners of a purchased donkey would follow that donkey throughout the stables and the race course. All the so-called election results announced by MDC-T in violation of the laws of Zimbabwe were first broadcast on CNN, BBC, Euro-News and other imperialist channels long before the MDC-Tâs own followers knew about them. In fact the leadership of MDC-T have taken decisions on the basis of instructions from Washington and London without consulting their members and even against the interests of those members. Since the MDC was formed, it has organised media stunts or media events to help the EU renew sanctions against Zimbabwe every February. Other media stunts have been organised to coincide with UN Security Council meetings; G8 meetings; Commonwealth meetings; Sadc meetings; and so on. The media antics performed in May and June 2008 were meant to help the US bring Zimbabwe before the UN Security Council at a time when the US controls that bodyâs presidency. l In the fourth place, the people of Zimbabwe are outraged and sickened by the white racist assumption in Britain, the US and the EU, that whatever these countries do or associate with will be seen in good light around the world. This is why these countries are not ashamed to treat MDC-T like a purchased race-horse which must be watched and fed every minute without any shame. This racist stupidity is shown not only in assumptions that white support will win the MDC votes in Zimbabwe but also in a uniform frame of reporting which assumes that Zimbabweans are totally ignorant of world affairs except the God-given goodness of the white man. Therefore any association between MDC and the Western powers is presumed to enhance the appeal of the former. Therefore no media report on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera English, SABC Africa and Euro News is going to question a single move or policy made by the MDC, the Trojan-Horse of the good white saviour of humanity. Unfortunately, the people of Zimbabwe know about the Berlin Conference and the Rudd Concession; they know about the collusion involving Washington, Brussels and London in the diabolic overthrow and murder of Patrice Lumumba; they know about Mohammad Mossadegh, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Salvador Allende, Jaimà Roldos, Omar Torrijos, Samora Moises Machel, Steve Biko, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King; just as much as they know about Soweto (1976); Chimoio (1977); Nyadzonia (1976); and Kasinga (1978). Just as the selective white conscience of imperialism has white-washed these mass murders and discounted them from the list of crimes against humanity â so have the ambassadors representing white racist powers in Harare also discounted all the atrocities committed by the MDC-T in the run-up to the June 2008 run-off election. But the people know that MDC-T has committed atrocities and attempted a scorched-earth campaign on behalf of white settlers and against resettled African farmers. The people know that the police have arrested both Zanu-PF and MDC-T members suspected of having perpetrated political violence. In other words, the crises which are not being reported on BBC, CNN, Sky News, Euro News, Al Jazeera and even SABC are the crisis in Euro-American policy toward Zimbabwe and the crisis within MDC-T. Interestingly, a former US Ambassador saw the crisis in US policy as far back as 1979 and called it a "tragedy." The Christian Science Monitor on 22 January 1979 published a story called "Rhodesian looks to US as ally". Ten days before that, on 12 January, the New York Times published an article called "Rhodesiaâs whites look to US for aid." And there were hundreds of similar articles in the US Press at the time. In January 1979, people truly interested in democracy and human rights would have been pre-occupied with the destiny of the African majority who were about to emerge as liberated nation of Zimbabwe after 100 years of brutal colonial rule. But, no, the European and US ruling classes and their Press were concerned about the destiny of the oppressor minority, the whites. The 1979 articles on Zimbabwe were no different from the 1960 articles on Congo. One by Francis B. Stevens on 22 August 1960 in the magazine US News and World Report was called "The White Manâs Future in Africa," in reference to the impending independence of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although it was Belgium and the US who were threatening the Africansâ future by plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, the Press presented the conspiring killers as the ones who were threatened by the African leaders they planned to assassinate. Among the 1979 articles on Zimbabwe there was one which stood out because it was written by a former US Ambassador to West Africa who was also a Professor teaching at one of Americaâs elite universities, Columbia University. Elliot P Skinner was a good white liberal, so he wrote apologetically about the axis of white racism which we see now closing in on Zimbabwe. The neoliberal racists now attacking Zimbabwe on behalf of a racist minority do not apologise for their racism. This is what Skinner wrote in January 1979, a few weeks away from Zimbabweâs independence. "Our tragedy is that, whether we like it or not, the United States has inherited (from the British Empire) the role of metropole (that is the new mother country) of all whites in Southern Africa. "This is not a role we welcomed, but it is one we cannot avoid . . . We are the ones who have led the discussions about the future of these countries (of Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.)" Even this liberal white professor and former ambassador was racist enough to believe that the US really has no choice but to always gang up against African interests and in defence of white settler interests. This is what has outraged Zimbabweans against US, British and EU policies. President Mugabe is for empowerment EDITOR â President Mugabeâs speech at the World Food Programme summit in Rome reduced Douglas Alexander, Britainâs Minister of Overseas Develop-ment, to size as the President eloquently articulated Zimbabweâs case, situating our socio-economic problems in Britainâs lap. Land in Zimbabwe was democratised much to the delight of the hitherto dispossessed and this, by contrast, angered the former colonisers who sought to have a change of government through illegal sanctions. Judging from the rapturous applause the speech received, it seems the delegates enjoyed what President Mugabe told them. Patriotic Zimbabweans at home and abroad will interpret the speech as a template not only for Zimbabwe, but also for developing nations worldwide who seek to liberate themselves from all forms of colonial domination. There was an unambiguous warning to developing nations that their political parties should not be creations of Western imperialism. One good example of such imperialist- inspired creations is MDC, which was created by the West and married to the British Labour Party. As we have witnessed, the child born out of this unholy matrimony is rather a devilish demon which has already been asking its parent to impose sanctions and more sanctions to weaken the resolve of Zimbabweans. The aim is to force Zimbabweans into submission and to vote for the devil who ruled for 100 years without the consent of the disenfranchised black majority. As with all marriages, there had to be a best man or more who, in this case, came in large numbers to the wedding. There were those on the MDC legal desk who helped to draft the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill. Another best man for the MDC was John Howard of Australia who hoped to make life as difficult as possible in Zimbabwe through the Commonwealth and cricket. There are many other MDC friends who have not done Zimbabwe any good at all nor have they in the process helped MDC supporters either. Imperialism the world over has been about imposing its will on mankind. The impact of the recent flurry of aid agencies in Zimbabwe delivering food aid has been to magnify a distorting effect on the results of the presidential elections. Without land, the theory of cumulative causation becomes apparent between the North and the South, causing poverty in the developing economies. Rather than the poor countries and rich countries converging with economic deve-lopment, they diverge. Poor countries become poorer as the richer nations enjoy economies of scale. The poorer nations are in the process forced to rely on primary products. Zanu-PF, under President Mugabeâs leadership, understands this process and its strategy is to fight, not for hand-outs, but for self determination and dignity. It wants the people of Zimbabwe to have control of their own destiny as a people on the world stage. Solomon Majasi. Chairman, Zanu-PF, Sanyati Arda District. Zanu-PF publishes empowerment magazine Herald Reporter ZANU-PF has published a magazine with 100 reasons detailing why Zimbabweans should vote for President Mugabe in Fridayâs presidential run-off election on June 27, as it intensifies its campaign. The book titled "If you believe and I believe, then all Good Things Are Possible" and is being handed out to people countrywide. Zanu-PF media sub-committee member and Minister of Policy Implementation Cde Webster Shamu said the magazine defines the meaning of the presidential run off, the clear meaning of the 100 percent empowerment theme, Zimbabwe today â the hard facts, President Mugabeâs candidacy, what the ruling party has done and what it would do and what the people should do. "The fact that Zimbabweans will be going to the polls on June 27, 2008 to vote for the countryâs president, fundamentally means that the current Government has demonstrated beyond doubt its commitment to and respect for the Constitution of the country and therefore the rule of law given the will of the people as expressed in the harmonised elections on March 29, 2008," reads reason number one. Judging by the misplaced pronouncements of media pundits and political detractors who have been competing to dispirit Zimbabweans through negative propaganda since the March 29 harmonised elections, according to the second reason, some people would be misled into believing that Zanu-PF has become unpopular and President Mugabe unelectable while Morgan Tsvangirai and his "foreign funded and foreign driven MDC have become so popular as to be unbeatable". "If these misleading pronouncements of media pundits and political detractors were true, there would have been no need for a presidential run-off on June 27, 2008 because everything would have been wrapped up by the MDC on March 29. "The fact that a presidential election run-off will be held on June 27 means that there is absolutely no truth to the claims of the pundits and detractors about the alleged popularity of Tsvangirai and his anti-Zimbabwean MDC." The magazine further says that the majority of Zimbabweans have genuine concerns about the current political polarisation and divisions in the country and they want to see these resolved along with the economic hardships facing almost everyone. It says that Tsvangirai and his MDC-T do not "by any stretch" of imagination enjoy the support of a majority of the electorate. Cde Shamu said that was why the MDC-T, with 99 seats, won a simple majority in the Parliamentary elections on March 29 and why they would not be able to run Parliament alone under any circumstances. "The simple fact is that there was no MDC landslide victory on March 29. Tsvangirai did not get the majority of the total valid votes cast. That is why there is a run-off on June 27. "Indeed, even his MDC did not win a majority of the 210 seats in the National Assembly. "For the same reason, there will be no Tsvangirai landslide or majority on June 27 not least because every patriotic Zimbabwean in and outside Zanu-PF is now much wiser and much more aware of the tragedy that would be visited upon Zimbabwe should the unthinkable happen to result in a Tsvangirai victory on June 27, 2008." The ruling party said the truth of the matter was that there was no single Zimbabwean eligible to vote in the presidential run-off on June 27 who does not know that Tsvangirai "is not a leader who can be trusted". It further says that when he led the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, he succeeded to steep it in corruption and divisions that are still plaguing that organisation. After the March 29 harmonised elections, Tsvangirai deserted his party and went into self-imposed exile feigning that his "life was in danger" and even deserted the liberation struggle before he even crossed the border in the 1970s. Zimbabweans are urged to stand up and be counted by overwhelmingly voting for President Mugabe, so that the country would never be a colony again. "When through Zanu-PF and President Mugabe the majority of Zimbabweans invoke the call for 100 percent empowerment and total independence, they are not engaging in the simple arithmetic of some game of numbers but they are asserting the revolutionary spirit that we are, as Zimbabweans, our own liberators in every conceivable sense captured by the basic meaning of 100 percent. "The basic truth to which Zanu-PF and President Mugabe are committed is that the essence of governance in Zimbabwe, which indeed was the essence of the liberation struggle, is the creation and every Zimbabwean in political, economic, social, cultural and religious terms." The ruling party said it was aware of the hardships being faced and was working tirelessly to address them in the national interest for the common good of all Zimbabweans. "Also, Zanu-PF and President Mugabe are aware that the education sector, primary and secondary schools as well as tertiary institutions have been hit very hard by shortages of staff and educational materials and deterioration of infrastructure. This is a matter whose solution is a priority to President Mugabe." The presidential run-off was an opportunity for all nationalists, progressive and democratic Zimbabweans to right the wrong of March 29 in their large numbers, the ruling party added. It said that it became evident after the March 29 elections, that the former colonial masters prematurely celebrated a false MDC victory and that never was in a manner that did not hide their sinister agenda against ordinary Zimbabweans who were now resettled on farms legally acquired by the Government during the land reform programme. "It would be too much, and downright irresponsible, for anyone to expect President Mugabe to handover such a situation to a successor and even worse to handover to Tsvangirai and his MDC which is controlled and manipulated by the very same hostile interests that are behind the current suffering of the majority of Zimbabweans. " âZDF ready to defend Zimâs sovereigntyâ Herald Reporter A SENIOR Zimbabwe Defence Forces officer has urged people to vote wisely on Friday by choosing President Mugabe who carries the values and interests of the country. Speaking at a pass out parade of 131 graduates from the Airforce of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe National Army and the Zimbabwe Prison Services at the Field Airforce Base in Chegutu recently, Air Vice Marshal Henry Muchena said the ZDF was ready to defend the countryâs sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said the country could not develop without land reform. "Land comes first before all else, and that all else grows from and off the land. As defence forces, this is the one asset that we should defend, that which not only defines Zimbabwean personality and defines sovereignty but also an asset that has a direct bearing on the fortunes and prosperity for our immediate empowerment, " he said. "We must not lose foresight in this regard as we go for the presidential run-off and therefore jealously guard that which we fought for. The long march for empowerment and total independence is beckoning and let us therefore go and select a candidate that carries the values and interests of a true independent Zimbabwe." Air Vice Marshal Muchena said economic related hardships the country is experiencing was a result of the illegal sanctions imposed by the West because of the land reform programme. "As defence forces we should reject to join ranks with those that fuel and sponsor manipulative and intimidatory attempts to effect regime change or purported restoration of normalcy under the guise of democracy, rule of law, respect of property rights and good governance," he said. Air Vice Marshal Muchena said these were just falsehoods by the imperialists aimed at advancing their interests. He said Zimbabwe cherished the rule of law and democracy as evidenced by the sacrifices made during the liberation war. Air Vice Marshal Muchena blasted Britain and her allies for denying the country funds to support the agrarian reform as agreed at Lancaster House Conference and for imposing sanctions. He accused Britain of bankrolling opposition parties in the country. "The agenda is quite clear; undermining and reversing the ideals and values of all the struggles that our forefathers and us have fought." omowale clay Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more! 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