Tsvangirai Will Participate in Zimbabwe Runoff

After initially stating he had won the March 29th election outright and not participate in a runoff, Morgan Tsvangirai has reconsidered and has now said he will partake in a runoff. In a telephone interview, Tsvangirai said the decision had been a difficult one but that the people of Zimbabwe would have been betrayed if he didn't participate. I argued in an earlier blog that if the MDC boycotted the runoff it would guarantee a victory for Mugabe. Of course, G-d only knows when the runoff will take place. It ought to be held by month's end but a vote might not happen until May 2009. The other problem is that Tsvangirai isn't in Zimbabwe. I fear that Mugabe's forces might do to Tsvangirai what Ferdinand Marcos' forces did to Benigno Aquino when he returned from exile to the Phillipines a quarter century ago. Tsvangirai has been beaten and tried for treason before. I wouldn't put anything past Mugabe in the pursuit of holding onto power.