HARARE, Zimbabwe, June 23 (UPI) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is urging his supporters to vote for him in Friday's presidential elections even though his main challenger has dropped out.
Mugabe called the decision by Movement for Democratic Change candidate Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw from the race amid escalating violence "a ruse," while Zimbabwe's justice minister predicted the ruling ZANU-PF party would "romp to victory," The Telegraph reported Monday.
Tsvangirai withdrew from the Zimbabwean presidential race Sunday, saying Mugabe's supporters had launched an orchestrated wave of killings, beatings and intimidation aimed his supporters, making a fair election impossible. Human rights group said up to 80 MDC supporters have been killed since the party finished ahead of the ZANU-PF in a March first-round ballot.
Mugabe denies the allegations, blaming the MDC's own members for instigating the violence. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Mugabe's supporters still needed to go to polls, telling state-run media, "This is the 11th time that Tsvangirai has threatened to withdraw from the presidential runoff and on each occasion I have challenged him to put it in writing as required by law."
Even after Tsvangirai's withdrawal, the MDC's Harare headquarters were raided by police Monday, CNN said.
