By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe isimplementing a defacto military coup to keep himself in powerbut will be ousted with the help of other African countries,opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.
"We'll manage to get Mugabe out. Mugabe is being deserted.No one wants to touch Mugabe in the region now. Eventually, wewill ease him out," Tsvangirai told Time Magazine.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accusesMugabe, 84, of prolonging a long delay in issuing the resultsof a March 29 president election while he plans a violentresponse to his biggest defeat since taking power in 1980.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament for thefirst time in an election on March 29 but no results of aparallel presidential vote have been issued.
"This is, in a sense, a de facto military coup. They haverolled out military forces across the whole country, to preparefor a run-off and try to cow the population. It's an attempt totry to create conditions for Mugabe to win," Tsvangirai said.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday the partywas preparing for a runoff after its tallies showed neitherTsvangirai nor Mugabe won the required absolute majority.
The MDC rejected both a runoff and ZANU-PF attempts to haveat least 14 seats recounted in the parliamentary vote. It saysTsvangirai has won and should immediately end Mugabe's 28-yearrule.
The regional body SADC, concerned at the increasingpossibility of violence because of the election deadlock, hascalled an emergency summit in Lusaka on Saturday.
Tsvangirai said he would try to persuade the regionalleaders to put pressure on Mugabe to step down.
SADC has been criticised in the past for failing topressure Mugabe despite the economic collapse in Zimbabwe, nowsuffering the world's highest hyper-inflation, chronicshortages of food and fuel and a near worthless currency.
SUMMIT
Mugabe's government said on Thursday it had no problem withSADC chair and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's decision tocall the emergency summit but said it had not soughtassistance.
Mwanawasa's call came after Jacob Zuma, powerful leader ofSouth Africa's ruling African National Congress, said the pollresults must be released, signalling a more robust reaction tothe crisis than President Thabo Mbeki who has insisted on"quiet diplomacy" rather than over pressure on Mugabe. .
The long delay in issuing results has dashed hopes of quickaction to turn round a ruined economy that has sent millions ofrefugees fleeing to neighbouring SADC (Southern AfricanDevelopment Community) countries.
The election deadlock has deepened the country's economicmeltdown. The International Monetary Fund forecast this weekthat the economy would contract by 6.6 percent this year and6.77 percent in 2009.
The official inflation rate is 100,580 percent but analystsbelieve the real level is much higher. An independentZimbabwean newspaper said last week that official figures forFebruary showed inflation at 164,900 percent.
Investors fear that if the Zimbabwean political impassecontinues, it could impact on other countries in the region --especially South Africa, whose rand currency has provenvulnerable to political events in its northern neighbour.
Although the rand benefited last week because of optimismthat the Mugabe era might be ending, traders said Zimbabwe wasnot having any effect now, with all eyes on a central bankinterest rate decision on Thursday.
They said negative developments in Zimbabwe were generallydiscounted by the market but positive news could give the randsome support, although it was not a key driver so far.
Militant independence war veterans and youth militias loyalto Mugabe have this week intensified invasions of mainlywhite-owned farms.
The opposition says this is part of an intimidationcampaign by ZANU-PF ahead of the expected presidential runoffvote.
Trevor Gifford, president of the white Commercial Farmers'Union (CFU), said on Thursday around 70 farms had now beeninvaded and one farmer had been abducted.
(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, StellaMapenzauswa, Nelson Banya and Muchena Zigomo; writing by MariusBosch; Editing by Barry Moody)
