Russia, Venezuela endorse Zimbabwean polls

AFRICAN countries yesterday came out in numbers to endorse the harmonised elections, urging the West to respect the will of Zimbabweans by removing the illegal economic sanctions regime.

Namibia, Mauritius, Zambia and Russia yesterday joined South Africa, Tanzania, Sadc, Comesa, the AU and UN in congratulating Zimbabwe.

In congratulatory messages to President Mugabe and Zanu-PF, African leaders dismissed vote-rigging claims, saying the West should leave Zimbabwe alone as its people had a right to self determination.

The United States, Britain and Australian have cast aspersions on the poll results, parroting MDC-T claims of vote-rigging without evidence.

Russia and Venezuela have endorsed the poll outcome.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki said the rights of Zimbabweans should be respected.

Speaking in Pretoria on Monday, Mr Mbeki said the elections were a reflection of the will of the people.

"The people of Zimbabwe have a right to self-determination. They have a right to decide what to do with their country and their future."

Mr Mbeki, who helped broker a power-sharing agreement between Zanu-PF and the MDC formations after the 2008 elections, said countries hostile to Zimbabwe had long pre-judged the elections.

"There has been a worrying thing about the Zimbabwe elections, which is that there has been a very sustained campaign before the elections to discredit them before they happen. You could see it quite clearly," he said.

President Mugabe and Zanu-PF romped to a resounding victory, getting 160 National Assembly seats to MDC-T's 49, with one seat going to an independent candidate.

The President trounced MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai by garnering 61,09 percent of the votes to 33,94 percent for the MDC-T leader.

Three other contestants Professor Welshman Ncube (MDC), Dr Dumiso Dabengwa (Zapu) and Kisinoti Mukwazhe (ZDP) shared the remaining 4,97 percent

The Sadc Troika - through its chairman Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Sadc facilitator, South African President Jacob Zuma, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Chinese government - congratulated President Mugabe for the victory.

Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba said the re-election of President Mugabe was a demonstration of "trust and confidence" Zimbabweans had in Zanu-PF.

"We commend the people and political leadership of the Republic of Zimbabwe for having delivered free and peaceful elections as reflected in the reports of the Sadc Election Observer Mission and the African Union Observer Mission to Zimbabwe," President Pohamba said.

"In light of the Sadc and AU Observer Missions declaring the elections as having been free and peaceful and the result representing the will of the people of Zimbabwe, Namibia calls on those countries that have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe to respect the verdict of the people of Zimbabwe and lift those sanctions."

Observer teams from Sadc, Comesa, the AU, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries roundly endorsed the credibility of the harmonised elections.