Mugabe tells party supporters Tsvangirai deserved to be assaulted

By Violet Gonda
30 March 2007

The ruling party’s Central Committee held a crucial meeting in Harare on Friday and it is strongly believed they will endorse Robert Mugabe’s plan to run for the presidential election. At the time of broadcast information was not available on the outcome of this meeting but Elliot Manyika, the party's political commissar, is reported to have said; “Comrade President, we want to tell everyone here that you are already our candidate." This was said to loud cheers before Friday's meeting.

Analysts say there won’t be many surprises and the Central Committee is expected to merely reaffirm what the party’s supreme decision making body the Politburo endorsed earlier this week.

The party is also expected to endorse the harmonisation of both the presidential and parliamentary elections. Mugabe had wanted to extend his term from 2008 to 2010, but conceded to holding the elections in 2008 after meeting resistance from members of his party.

The show of support from his African counterparts at the SADC meeting has boosted the 83 year olds confidence and he boasted to supporters on his return to Zimbabwe that he had not received any criticism from the heads of state. According to the news agency Agence France Press (AFP) Mugabe openly acknowledged an assault on opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai who he said had "deserved to be assaulted.”

In a clear show of defiance Mugabe told his supporters: “Yes, I told them he was beaten but he asked for it…We got full backing, not even one (SADC leader) criticised our actions."

In a rare admission of divisions within his party Mugabe also urged members to keep the infighting in-house and not to feed the appetite of a ‘hostile media.’