Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe dismissed allegations on Monday of widespread voter fraud during the country’s recent elections and told his opponents to "commit suicide if they so wish," the Daily Mail reports.
In his first public statement since the July 31 elections, Mugabe vowed to "never" repudiate his election win. Both Mugabe and his party in Zimbabwe's parliament won resounding victories.
Mugabe did not mince words when discussing his opposition according to the Daily Mail:
Speaking at the annual Heroes' Day gathering in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, Mugabe insisted that Zimbabweans voted freely and called on Tsvangirai to accept defeat.
'Those who are smarting from defeat can commit suicide if they so wish. But I tell them even dogs will not sniff at their flesh if they choose to die that way,' he said.
He described Tsvangirai as the 'enemy' in his party's midst during the shaky coalition brokered by regional leaders after the last disputed and violent poll in 2008.
He said: 'We have thrown the enemy away like garbage. They say we have rigged, but they are thieves' because of corruption during their time in the government.
Mugabe’s opponent, outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is challenging the election results in court. Election monitor groups found significantly higher percentages of voter suppression at urban polling stations, the typical strongholds of support for the MDC.
