The delay might not be designed around rigging. They might just be playing for time. They might be trying to work out how they deal with the defeat. And they might also be destroying incriminating data on government computers, etc. But how would Mugabe save face? Does he run away? And what do the service chiefs do, and how do they save face?

Mugabe’s definitely lost Chinamasa and Comrade Chen, and he’s probably definitely lost several other of his “lieutenants”. He can’t appoint them all to Parliament, so who does he use? He probably wasn’t expecting to lose those guys. He knows ZANU(PF) is split, and won’t really know who he can trust anyway, and some of those may already be trying to persuade him to go.

He can’t be sure that the rank and file of the police and defence forces will follow instructions from their present chiefs, as they will know that it has been fixed and won’t have wanted it. He will be running out of state money and won’t be able to provide them with any better pay and conditions than before. Life will only get worse for them.

It might not be Mugabe who’s in control of this. Others might be the ones playing for time. If the likes of Mujuru and Zvinavashe really were/are on Makoni’s side, might if not be possible that they are pulling ZEC’s strings and getting the delay while they try to persuade Mugabe that he it’s too difficult to rig this time and he should seek a statesmanlike exit? Mujuru and Zvinavashe might even think that they could find more useful/successful roles for themselves in an MDC “unity government” than in an unreformed ZANU(PF).

And I’m not sure how well SADC and Mbeki will take a Mugabe win if it’s not announced until, say, the end of Tuesday. Mugabe might have given Mebki the runaround once too often by now.

Thanks for posting your comment. There is much that the MDC can do within the framework of the law in Zimbabwe. It is imperative for them to keep their supporters engaged and to maintain the momentum and the excitement that they generated when they claimed victory.

For example
- As mentioned above, there is no law stating Zimbabweans must display Mugabe’s portrait. The majority of Zimbabweans have voted Tsvangirai. In order to create ways for people to explore and engage in non-violent defiance and non-cooperation the MDC should ask Zimbabweans to pull the portraits down.

- There is no law saying that people can’t hoot their horns, display the Chinja wave and play loud music. MDC campaign vehicles should be visiting various suburbs and sharing their victory and excitement. Going one step further the MDC should send out bulk SMS messages to their supporters asking them to all hoot for freedom at 1pm these next few days.

- We have received no word or communication from MDC MPs calling us to constituency based meetings which would unify, and most importantly, build courage in Zimbabweans for the next few days.

These are the sorts of activities that need to be unfolding NOW to keep Zimbabweans engaged and hopeful and most importantly, preparing us for collective action.

What do you think?