Marshals led voters to polling stations, bands of government supporters harassed people in the street and rural voters faced arson threats yesterday as Zimbabwe held an internationally discredited, one-candidate presidential runoff marked by intimidation.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who withdrew from the runoff against longtime Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe after an intense campaign of state-sponsored violence, said the results of the election would “reflect only the fear of the people of Zimbabwe.”
Dozens of opposition supporters have been killed and thousands injured ahead of the vote.
PHOTO: AP
Paramilitary police in riot gear deployed in a central Harare park, then began patrolling the city. Militant Mugabe supporters roamed the streets, heckling people and asking why they were not voting.
“I’ve got no option but to go and vote so that I can be safe,” a young woman selling tomatoes said.
A gunman in civilian clothes was seen attacking a TV news cameraman and the voter he was interviewing in Harare, then forcing them into a police car. Two Zimbabwean freelance journalists were detained by police as they waited to watch Mugabe vote.
World leaders roundly condemned the vote.
“Today’s election is a sham, the election is hollow and its result will be equally hollow and meaningless,” EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said in Brussels, Belgium.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at a meeting in Japan, said the US would raise possible sanctions with other members of the UN Security Council.
Election observers said Zimbabweans were being forced to the polls and were frightened.
Lines built up at polls as voters arrived in groups, led by people believed to be ruling party marshals carrying books filled with names. In one side street, names were being called out and ticked off as people headed into a polling station.
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
TECH CORRIDOR: Technology centers and science parks in the south would be linked, bolstering the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung. The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting. The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said. The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration
RSS