美国国家公共电台 NPR Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe Says He Won't Support His Old Party

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Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe Says He Won't Support His Old Party

NOEL KING, HOST:

Today is election day in Zimbabwe. These are the first elections there since President Robert Mugabe was forced out last year. Mugabe was in power for 37 years until November, when he was replaced by a longtime deputy. Now, voters in the country say they are energized¹, but Zimbabwe does have a long history of election violence and ballot² stuffing.

NPR's Eyder Peralta is in Zimbabwe. Good morning, Eyder.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE³: Good morning, Noel.

KING: All right, so this is a very big day there. Thirty-seven years under Mugabe - no longer. Who are the big contenders, the main contenders to replace him?

PERALTA: So there are 23 candidates.

KING: Wow.

PERALTA: And, you know, this is historic not just because Mugabe is not on the ballot but also because Morgan Tsvangirai, who is the historic - has been the historic opposition⁴ leader - he died. And he's not on the ballot either. So there's two men who really have the best shot at this thing - Emmerson Mnangagwa, who you mentioned, and he ousted⁵ Robert Mugabe. And he is running against a young upstart. He's a pastor⁶. He's an attorney. He's a good talker. And his name is Nelson Chamisa.

And what's interesting is both of these candidates are running on a platform of change. They're saying that they will both bring a new Zimbabwe. And another interesting thing is that we got a kind of curve ball yesterday from the former leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. He called all of us into his mansion⁷ yesterday. And he announced that he is supporting the opposition. It was truly just a remarkable⁸ act of political vengeance⁹. You know, Mugabe still has pull in this country, so that may mean something at the end of the day.

KING: Not supporting his longtime deputy man. All right, so you say both these guys are running on a platform of change, which is one of those squishy political words. When voters say change and hear change, what do they think? What do they want?

PERALTA: Here it's really simple actually. It's the economy. You know, there's a lack of money here in Zimbabwe. There's a huge lack of jobs. And, you know, what I've been hearing from Zimbabweans is that they want a better life. They want - you know, they want to have a job. They want to be able to send their kids to school. But they're also focused on whether these will be truly free and fair elections. Lots has changed since November when Mugabe was ousted. But people still have questions.

Today I was in rural eastern Zimbabwe. And I spoke¹⁰ to Esther (ph), who only gave me her first name because she was afraid. And she said when she got to the polls at 5 a.m., there were people taking her names. The police stopped it. But let's listen to a bit of our conversation.

I mean, that makes you brave to be here today.

ESTHER: Yes. Yes. (Foreign language spoken).

PERALTA: And what she's saying is they want to be brave. They want to show up. They want to withstand the intimidation¹¹ because they want change.

KING: But again, you hinted or alluded¹² to the fact that this woman seemed to feel as if she was being threatened. People tried to take her name until the police intervened. I wonder, are there concerns given Zimbabwe's history that whomever loses this election will not accept the results?

PERALTA: Yeah. I mean, you know, Nelson Chamisa has said as much. He, you know, gave a wide-ranging press conference in which he said the only result he will accept is a win by him.

KING: Wow.

PERALTA: Mnangagwa has actually said he will accept defeat. But he says he's also confident that he will win. So yes, there are lots of concerns, not just about what happens today but what happens as voting begins here - as counting begins.

KING: NPR's Eyder Peralta. Thanks, Eyder.

PERALTA: Thanks, Noel.