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Zimbabwean President Mourns His Party Loss in Parliamentary Election
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Friday mourned the loss of 58 seats to opposition parties in the county's fifth parliamentary election, saying that signaled a protest against the party.
Mugabe, also First Secretary of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Font (Zanu-pf), opened the party's Central Committee meeting in Harare, describing the loss as a political disaster.
He said, "In most of the constituencies which the party conceded to the opposition, the margins of defeat were quite wide, possibly indicating that the protest was quite strongly felt."
"This could very easily translate into a deep chasm between such disgruntled supporters and the party," he said, adding that " such a development would be inauspicious for the future of our party,"
In the country's parliamentary election on June 24-25, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) gained 57 seats and Zanu (Ndonga) garnered one seat.
MDC swept almost all the urban seats and gained almost all rural seats in the Matebeleland region of west Zimbabwe. Mugabe said it was clear that Zanu-pf had lost in urban centers because of the adverse economic conditions prevailing in the country.
"It was difficult to see how the party would escape the winter of urban discontent and the harsh political verdict that this brings about in electoral terms," said Mugabe.
He said, "Little wonder then that the bulk of the support and vote for the opposition came from urban or peri-urban dwellers, chiefly from among the unemployed or frustrated youths."
The president noted that the country was facing a difficult macro-economic condition, causing high inflation to raise the cost of living and the erosion of real wages and incomes for the workers.
In that situation, he said, the opposition did not need to present any new policies because voters were more interested in registering their unhappiness against Zanu-pf.
He said the greatest weakness facing Zanu-pf was that it lacked strong structures needed for communication and mobilization.
It is reported that Zanu-pf has been rocked by factionalism in almost all the provinces with members attempting to dislodge each other from provincial structures.
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