Pressing Mugabe

Recall the Zimbabwean election that took place over two weeks ago today. Still, no progress has been made. In fact, the Mugabe government has yet to release the polling numbers from the April 1st election. Today, Zimbabwe's neighbor and the biggest regional power, South Africa, applied greater pressure on Mugabe, calling for the rapid release of results from Zimbabwe’s presidential election.

“The situation is dire,” said Themba Maseko, a South Africa government spokesman in Cape Town. “When elections are held and results are not released two weeks after, it is obviously of great concern.”

Per Reuters:

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Maseko’s statement Thursday reflected a change of position by Mr. Mbeki himself. But Mr. Mbeki has been under criticism at home for his insistence on quiet diplomacy in dealing with the crisis in Zimbabwe, where the economy has collapsed, bringing hyper-inflation, shortages of food and fuel and 80 percent unemployment. Millions of people have fled to South Africa.

South Africa, the biggest regional power, had previously hesitated to join international expressions of concern about the delay in issuing the result of the vote, in which the opposition says Mr. Mugabe was defeated.

And the response from the Mugabe government:

Earlier Thursday, Mr. Mugabe’s government accused Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, of treason and of working with Britain, the former colonial power, to topple Mr. Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe to independence and has been its leader for 28 years.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Mr. Tsvangirai was a British puppet.

The Guardian has more on the international pressure applied to the Mugabe government:

In a statement released by the host nation, Japan, the G8 expressed "deep concern" about rising tension in Zimbabwe and urged a "speedy, credible and genuinely democratic resolution".

Zimbabwean officials accused Mugabe's election rival Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), of acting as a puppet to seek "regime change" in Britain's former colony.

The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, yesterday bluntly censured Mugabe, telling the UN security council: "No one thinks, having seen the results of polling stations, that President Mugabe has won."