Mugabe assured of win: Robert Mugabe is virtually guaranteed to win the election and be sworn in for another five-year term. Opposition party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who beat Mugabe in the first round of voting, withdrew from the race to protest campaign violence. There were indications that yesterday's turnout was lower than the first round, despite reports that voters were threatened with violence if they didn't cast ballots.
Role of African nations: The African Union is convinced that it can sort out the turmoil, the group's top leader said yesterday ahead of a meeting of African foreign ministers in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Mugabe said he would attend but accept no solutions imposed from outside. At a meeting of the East African Community held in Kigali, Rwanda, yesterday, the presidents of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda said the election "cannot be a solution," to the crisis. The 14-nation Southern African Development Community is under increasing pressure to help settle the crisis. Military intervention by the development community or the African Union is not seen as an option.
Response elsewhere: UN diplomats in New York said the Security Council might call an emergency meeting over the weekend. The Group of Eight nations lambasted Zimbabwe yesterday, and the United States said the Security Council may consider fresh sanctions on the country next week.
Future of Mugabe: Mugabe has said he wants to stay on until he is sure that it is impossible to reverse a land redistribution program that saw thousands of farms owned by whites seized and given to poor blacks. Some analysts believe victory in the election could allow him to bow out from a position of strength, in favor of a hand-picked successor.
Impact on region: The prospects of reversing Zimbabwe's economic meltdown are considered slim without a change in government. Mugabe refuses to consider reforms, and Western powers are unlikely to provide the billions of dollars in development aid needed to bail out the economy. Zimbabwe's neighbors could be swamped with refugees.
