ZIMBABWE: President Robert Mugabe said yesterday he had no fear of losing this week's parliamentary election in Zimbabwe, dismissing his opposition challenger as an empty-headed British "puppy".
Mr Mugabe, who is trying to persuade the world that he has improved democratic governance since bloodshed and allegations of rigging marred polls in 2000 and 2002, pledged that tomorrow's vote would be fair and said the government would increase its majority.
Police warned of tough measures to prevent any pre-election violence, and international observers said they had intervened several times to defuse tension.
But the opposition has charged that one of its supporters was killed by ruling party members, its first charge of murder in the campaign. Police denied the crime was politically motivated.
Mr Mugabe told journalists after a campaign rally in the Zanu-PF stronghold of Bindura he had not considered the possibility of defeat by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which he branded a puppet of the former colonial ruler, Britain.
He had earlier told some 20,000 supporters in Bindura, about 90km northeast of the capital, Harare, that Zanu-PF would win a "free and fair" election against the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, whom he mocked as a "big-headed man with no brain".
"He runs to the British like a puppy wagging its tail, campaigning for sanctions, and asking to be installed as leader," Mr Mugabe said at one of his biggest rallies since electioneering began about a month ago.
"There will be a free run again of elections but, of course, they are going to lose. This time much more than they did in 2000. It's clear now that the people have seen through them," Mr Mugabe said.
The head of South Africa's observer mission, the largest foreign team invited to watch the election, said his group noted relatively smooth progress but had still stepped in at times to prevent political clashes.
"We know what is happening on the ground . . . We have had to intervene to deal with tense situations that could undermine the process," South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said.
Mr Mdladlana said South African observers had intervened several times to ensure police freed MDC supporters detained for political activity, to ensure planned meetings went ahead or to protect Zanu-PF members in an MDC stronghold.
Some 500 international observers, including delegations from the South African government, parliament and ruling ANC, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union have deployed across Zimbabwe to monitor the poll.
The Commonwealth, the United States, Britain and the European Union - all of which have accused Mugabe of political abuses in the past - were not invited to participate.
Zimbabwe's police, echoing the government's persistent calls for peaceable voting, say political violence has subsided compared to past polls in which the MDC says more than 200 of its supporters died.