In a Press Conference held earlier this evening, Morgan Tsvangirai made this statement:

The challenge of giving birth to a new Zimbabwe founded on restoration and not on retribution; on equality and not discrimination; on love, not war; on tolerance, not hate.

After Saturday 29th of March 2008, Zimbabwe will never be the same again; the people have spoken with one voice.

I would like to thank the millions who came to reclaim their dignity and invest in the change they can trust.

I’d like to thank the thousands in every corner of our country who braved the cold to come and make a statement on Saturday 29th March: from the mothers in Bikita, grandfathers in Tsholotsho, widows in Mpopoma, sisters in Kwekwe, school teachers in Zhombe.

In those minutes inside the polling booth, each one of us re-wrote the history of Zimbabwe. For that particular moment we each held the destiny of our country in the pen we used to cast that vote.

The votes cast on Saturday was for change and a new beginning. It was a vote for jobs; it was a vote for food, for dignity, for respect, for decency and equality, for tolerance, for love, and for trust.

Our people, therefore, cannot wait for the execution of that mandate.

I know that in moments such as this there is a temptation to short-cut processes, and to resort to opportunistic pathways. We will exercise restraint, and leadership, as we have exercised over the years.

Indeed, for years we have refused to resort to violent and unconstitutional methods of achieving democratic change.

Against great seduction and temptation, we refuse to be swayed away from the paths of democracy and social justice. That commitment to those values will not be betrayed now.

However, I have to urge the electoral authority that is the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, to proceed with haste, and I think two and a half days is not haste at all!

We, on our part, will tomorrow disclose the totals from our count based on published returns at polling stations. And will after that result make a comment.

Thank you.