‘The fear is constant but resolve remains’

Zimbabweans went reluctantly to the polls today for a one-man presidential run-off that looks set to hand Robert Mugabe another term in office, but which has been widely dismissed as a sham by the outside world.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader who pulled out of the contest last weekend after a vicious campaign of intimidation against his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told his supporters not to bother voting - unless they felt their lives were under threat.

In the Japanese city of Kyoto, G8 foreign ministers threatened further UN sanctions against Zimbabwe for its abandonment of democracy. “This kind of sham couldn’t possibly produce a legitimate outcome,” said Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State.

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Despite predictions in the state media of a “massive” turnout, the number of voters queueing when polling stations opened at 7am (0500 GMT) was tiny compared to the first round of the election on March 29 which saw the MDC oust Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) in parliament but, according to official results, left Mr Tsvangirai just short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a second round run-off for the presidency.

One of the first to vote was Danger Zvembabvu, a 50-year-old veteran of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation war, although he cut a lonely figure as he waited for election officers to open the doors of a station in central Harare. “I have been queuing since 3am but I was the only one,” he said. “This is an exercise I feel I have to be part of because I love my country.”

Mr Tsvangirai, who has been holed up in the Dutch Embassy in Harare since announcing his decision last Sunday not to contest today’s run-off vote, wrote in an open letter to supporters: “Today is not an election. Today is a shameful humiliation, another tragic day in our nation’s history.

“Whatever might happen, the results…will not be recognised by the world. No matter what you are forced to do, we know what is in your heart. Don’t risk your life. The people’s victory may be delayed but it won’t be denied.”

He added: “If possible, we ask you not to vote today. But if you must vote for Mr Mugabe because of threats to your life, then do so.”

Mr Tsvangirai was detained no less than five times during his abortive attempts at campaigning and his party says that dozens of its supporters and officials have been killed by the security forces and thugs organised by Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF). His party’s No 2, Tendai Biti, is in jail facing a capital charge of treason and the MDC says that 2,000 other “political prisoners” are being held.

African leaders had urged Mr Mugabe to delay the presidential run-off to allow time for some kind of transitional arrangement, agreeing with Mr Tsvangira’s decision that a free and fair ballot was no longer possible.

In Kyoto, the mood among the major powers was less conciliatory. In their joint summit statement, the G8 ministers said: “We deplore the actions of the Zimbabwean authorities - systematic violence, obstruction and intimidation - which have made a free and fair presidential runoff election impossible.”

The UN Security Council is to discuss the extension of sanctions against Zimbabwe as early as next week and Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, said that he wanted talks on whether the EU should withdraw its ambassadors from Zimbabwe.

David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, told reporters: “None of us belive that this ‘quote-unquote’ election today is a contest that can bring credit to any country.”

He added: “It is very clear on the part of the United Kingdom - there is no legitimacy for the government of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. The only people with any shred of democratic legitimacy are those who won the March 29 first round.”