All ministers to give up pay rises

The Press Association

All Government ministers are to forgo their pay rises for 2008/9 to reflect the importance of public sector wage restraint at a time of economic uncertainty.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected a recommendation from a review into Westminster pay that would have seen MPs receive an additional £650 "catch-up" payment on top of their annual pay rises for each of the next three years.

Ahead of a vote on MPs salaries in the Commons on July 3, he also rejected a proposal from Sir John Baker's review that their pay should be linked to the three-month average public sector earnings index, and said that they should instead rise in line with the mid-point of a basket of public sector settlements.

With some settlements yet to be negotiated, it is not clear exactly what rise this would produce for MPs in 2008/09, but it is thought likely to be in the order of 2%.

Mr Brown accepted recommendations from the Senior Salaries Review Body for pay rises next year of 1.5% for senior civil servants, 2.2% for senior military officers and very senior NHS managers, and slightly over 2.5% for judges.

Mr Brown's spokesman said that the decision to give up ministerial pay rises for one year was made by the Prime Minister at their Cabinet meeting and agreed by all those round the table.

Secretaries of State approved the decision on behalf of their departmental ministers, who will also be affected.

Ministers' pay is normally linked to the rise in average increases in senior civil service salaries. A 1.5% rise next year would have meant approximately £1,900 more for Mr Brown, £1,200 for Cabinet ministers and £500-£600 for lower-ranking ministers.

The pay restraint applies only to the portion of salaries related to their ministerial jobs.

They will receive the same rise as other MPs in their £61,181 salary for being a constituency MP.

Zimbabwe announces poll run-off

By Nelson Banya

HARARE - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe in the presidential election but faces a run-off vote after failing to win an outright majority, the electoral body said on Friday.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change called the announcement of the long-delayed result "scandalous daylight robbery". It says Tsvangirai won more than 50 percent at the March 29 election and Mugabe's 28-year rule is over.

But the MDC has few options. If Tsvangirai refuses to take part in a second round of votes, then Mugabe would automatically keep his hold on power according to electoral law.

An aide to Mugabe said the president accepted the result of the first round and would contest the run-off.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told a news conference in neighbouring South Africa that the results clearly showed that Tsvangirai should be declared president. He said the party would decide at the weekend whether to contest a run-off.

"According to the law, the person receiving the highest number of votes is the president of the republic of Zimbabwe with effect from the day of such declaration," he said.

"Even on their own announcement, we have won this election and therefore Morgan Tsvangirai is to be declared the president of the republic of Zimbabwe."

Chief Elections Officer Lovemore Sekeramayi said Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent with Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain, on 43.2 percent. Independent Simba Makoni, a ruling party defector, took 8.3 percent.

"Since no candidate has received the majority of the total votes cast ... a second election shall be held on a date to be announced by the commission," Sekeramayi said.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will set the date of the runoff. By law, a second round should be held within 21 days of the result, but the ZEC has the power to extend it. Political observers say it is likely to extend the period to within about 40 days.

The United States and former colonial power Britain questioned the credibility of the official results more than one month after the election and voiced concern over how fair a run-off could be.

The European Commission also called on Friday for Zimbabwe to allow international monitors to ensure a free and fair presidential run-off after the electoral body there said no clear winner emerged from the first round.

Opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the verification of the votes had not been done properly.

"This whole thing is a scandal, scandalous daylight robbery and everyone knows that," he told Reuters. "We won this election outright, and yet what we are being given here as the outcome are some fudged figures meant to save Mugabe and ZANU-PF."

He said the party executive would decide the next move. Initial MDC estimates had given Tsvangirai 50.3 percent of the vote although independent and ruling ZANU-PF party projections had suggested he was unlikely to win an outright majority.

Zimbabwe observers point to runoff vote, suspect possible rigging

(CNN)

Zimbabwe's government Monday began releasing the results of the weekend parliamentary vote, but offered no data on the hotly contested presidential race.

President Robert Mugabe is facing the most formidable challenge to his 28-year rule from two opponents, including his former finance minister, Simba Makoni, who is running as an independent.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by presidential contender Morgan Tsvangirai, announced Sunday that it had won enough votes in Saturday's presidential and parliamentary election to end the 84-year-old incumbent's reign.

But a group of non-governmental organizations monitoring the election released exit polling data Monday that indicated the race possibly headed for a runoff vote.

Noel Kututwa, chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said that his group's polling data gave Tsvangirai 49.4 percent of the vote -- short of the 51 percent needed to win. Mugabe was second with 41.8 percent, and Makoni third with 8.2 percent.

Election authorities have released no data on the presidential race. Government officials said it takes time to verify and "harmonize" the counts.

The United States, which has raised concerns about election fraud in the southern African country, called on Zimbabwe's government to make sure "the counting of the votes ... ensures the will of the people is heard," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Monday.

While election observers have urged prompt reporting of the results to avoid political unrest, government officials said it would take time to verify and "harmonize" the counts.

It is unlikely that Mugabe will receive any congratulations from the U.S. if he emerges as the victor.

Speaking to reporters during her trip to the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the long-time president and his government "a disgrace to the people of Zimbabwe and a disgrace to southern Africa and to the continent of Africa as a whole."

Kututwa said the delay in announcing all the results was "fueling speculation" that Mugabe's government was tampering with the ballot count. His group was monitoring the election.

"This is very worrying," Kututwa said.

Despite the lack of official results, the MDC insisted it had won enough votes to end Mugabe's rule, which has seen the nation slide into economic meltdown.

Defying a government order, the Movement for Democratic Change said it tallied the results posted outside each polling station -- and based on one-third of the returns, that count shows Tsvangirai won 67 percent of the votes, journalists inside Zimbabwe told CNN.

The Zimbabwean government has denied CNN and other international news organizations permission to enter the country to report on the elections.

MDC also claimed it had won the majority of parliamentary seats in Zimbabwe's urban centers, including Harare and Bulawayo. It enjoys widespread support in the cities, while Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has its base in Zimbabwe's rural areas, where white farmers have been driven out.

By Monday evening, just 67 of 210 parliamentary races were released -- ZANU-PF won 31; MDC won 30; and six won by a party that split from the MDC.

Two members of President Robert Mugabe's cabinet -- Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Interactive Affairs Minister Chen Chimutengwende -- lost their seats to the MDC. But Mugabe's nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, won a seat in his uncle's home district.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa held onto his seat in a district of Harare.

Kututwa said some MDC members had been arrested for celebrating in the streets.

MDC leaders began declaring victory just hours into Saturday's vote. But there are concerns that if each side claims victory, tensions could ignite and violence could erupt -- as happened this year in Kenya.

Observers from the South African Democratic Alliance opposition party also said its sources had said the opposition had won a majority in most areas.

"If this is not reflected in the results, this will be yet another indication that the election was rigged," they added.

Critics of the government had predicted voting would be rigged. The United States warned of a possible unfair election, and New York-based Human Rights Watch said the elections were likely to be "deeply flawed."

Makoni, who was expelled from the Zanu-PF after announcing his own bid to unseat Mugabe, said it was "premature to judge that the environment before the balloting has had some impediment."

Makoni said: "We know our people are clear about what they want... We will wait and see the results."

The announcement of results appeared to have been delayed despite election observers saying some results were known on Saturday night, four hours after polls closed. In previous elections, partial results were announced hours after voting ended.

Criticism of Mugabe has grown across Zimbabwe, with unemployment running at 80 percent. Most Zimbabweans survive on less than $1 a day and inflation is the highest in the world at more than 100,000 percent.

People also suffer from chronic shortages of food, water, electricity, fuel and medicine, and thousands of Zimbabweans flood into neighboring countries looking for jobs.

Part of the economic freefall is traced to Mugabe's land redistribution policies, including his controversial seizure of commercially white-owned farms in 2000.

Mugabe gave the land to black Zimbabweans he said were cheated under colonialist rule, and white farmers who resisted were jailed.

In 2005, Mugabe launched Operation Clean Out the Trash, in which he razed slum areas across the country. Mugabe denies mismanagement and blames his country's woes on the West, saying sanctions have harmed the economy.

Kenya violence grows after opposition leader slain

By TOM MALITI, Associated Press Writer

Gunmen killed an opposition lawmaker in Nairobi and government helicopters fired on crowds in the Rift Valley on Tuesday, the latest flare-up of the ethnic fighting that has gripped Kenya since its disputed presidential election.

Under increasing pressure to share power, President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, formally opened negotiations but the two remained far apart on the vote outcome — an issue each indicates is not negotiable.

Odinga insisted what needed "the most urgent attention" was the resolution of the flawed election results. Kibaki deplored the fact that some Kenyans "have been incited to hate one another and view each other as enemies."

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is helping mediate the dispute and Tuesday's meeting.

"The people need you," he told them. "They want you to take charge of the situation and do whatever possible to prevent the downward slide into chaos that is threatening this country."

Mugabe Were, who was shot to death as he drove home, was among a slew of opposition members who won seats in the legislative vote held at the same time as the presidential election. The opposition, which won the most seats in parliament, accuses Kibaki of stealing the presidential vote.

After Were's death, groups of armed youths began gathering in two Nairobi slums. Sabat Abdullah, a slum resident, said a gang hefting machetes dragged a doctor from the president's Kikuyu tribe from his clinic "and then cut and cut until his head was off."

Similar scenes have convulsed western Kenya, where police in helicopters fired on crowds on Tuesday. Since the Dec. 27 election, the death toll across a country once among the most stable in Africa has soared to over 800. Much of the violence has pitted other tribes against Kikuyu, long resented for their dominance of Kenyan politics and business.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful whose father was Kenyan, appealed for peace on Nairobi's Capital FM radio station.

"Now is the time for all parties to renounce violence. Now is the time for Kenyan leaders to rise above party affiliations and past ambitions for the sake of peace," Obama said. "Most troubling are new indications that the violence is being organized, planned and coordinated."

In Washington, the State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the ongoing violence underscored the importance of negotiations.

"This is a political dispute and it requires a political solution. The two leaders have to come to some agreement on how that is done," Casey said.

Police said Were's death was being treated "as a murder but we are not ruling out anything, including political motives."

"We suspect the foul hands of our adversaries," Odinga said as he made his way Tuesday to Were's home, where dozens of protesters manned burning barricades of tires and uprooted telephone posts.

Kibaki condemned the killing, appealed for calm and promised police would act swiftly to ensure the perpetrators were dealt with severely.

In the Mathare slum, armed Luo men at a roadblock dragged a Kikuyu man from his car and attacked him with machetes, volunteer aid worker Fospeter Ouma said. "They slashed him so much. I think he must have died," he said.

Angry supporters of Were in the slum area of Dandora, the murdered politician's constituency, set fire to homes and shops owned by Kikuyus and brandished axes and machetes.

Police fired tear gas, and later live bullets, to disperse them, and beat them with clubs. An AP Television cameraman saw a policeman pursue protesters down a mud road, shooting at them with a pistol.

In Western Kenya's Rift Valley, about 5,000 people set fire to homes and smashed shop windows in Naivasha, dragging away goods. Five police officers fired into the air but were unable to control the turmoil. Naivasha's police chief tried to calm the crowd but was pelted with stones and fled in his car.

A police helicopter and two military helicopters then flew over the crowd and officers began shooting, sending people running in panic. A reporter saw two bodies with bullet wounds, but it was unclear whether they were shot by officers in the air or on the ground.

Reporters also watched the helicopters swoop down, with officers firing on a mob of armed Kikuyus pinning down hundreds of Luos outside the Naivasha Country Club. Kikuyus, armed with machetes and clubs inset with nails, had prevented the Luos from escaping for two days.

On Tuesday, police began evacuating them, and police chief Grace Kakai said the helicopters helped.

"There were very big crowds gathering and we had to disperse them so we used helicopter patrols. They were not firing at the crowd. We were trying to scare them, not hurt them," she said. Some 300 Luos were evacuated, she said.

The Rift Valley has seen some of the worst of the postelection violence. At least 90 people were killed there over the weekend.

Kibaki and Odinga blame each other for the violence, which has driven 255,000 people from their homes. The two men have traded accusations of "ethnic cleansing." Human rights groups and officials charge the violence has become organized.

Kenyan rivals meet for first time since elections

By KATY POWNALL, Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's president and its main opposition leader met Thursday for the first time since the disputed Dec. 27 presidential vote sparked nationwide violence that left hundreds dead.

President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga arrived at the president's office in downtown Nairobi for the meeting. They were accompanied by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who brokered their talks and is mediating.

Kibaki had insisted on direct talks with Odinga, who refused to meet without a mediator. Annan is leading a mediation mission of the African Union that began work Wednesday.

Some 700 people have been killed in violence that erupted after Kibaki was declared winner of the elections despite a deeply flawed vote tally.

International allies have urged Kibaki and Odinga to negotiate a power-sharing agreement that might create a new position of prime minister for Odinga.

Kibaki told Annan that he wants to resolve the political crisis, a government statement said.

"President Kibaki also informed Mr. Annan ... on steps his government was taking to open political dialogue and ensure national reconciliation and healing," the statement said.

In another encouraging sign, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni won an agreement from both sides to set up a judicial commission to investigate vote rigging. Museveni met separately with Kibaki and Odinga on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Annan persuaded Odinga to call off protests that had been planned for Thursday in defiance of a government ban. Scores of Odinga's supporters have been gunned down by riot police in earlier demonstrations.

New York-based Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said Thursday it has evidence that opposition party leaders "actively fomented," organized and directed ethnic attacks in Kenya's western Rift Valley, where some of the worst violence has been perpetrated in the aftermath of the disputed election.

Human Rights Watch said more attacks are being planned on members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. An opposition legislator from the region denied the charges.

Making a Martyr of Bhutto

By ARYN BAKER

Just days before parliamentary polls in Pakistan, leading Prime Ministerial contender and anti terrorism crusader Benazir Bhutto was shot dead during an election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. "She has been martyred," said party official Rehman Malik. The Associated Press, citing Malik, reported that Bhutto was shot in the neck and the chest before the gunman blew himself up. At least 20 bystanders were killed in the blast. Bhutto was rushed to a hospital But, at 6:16 p.m. Pakistan time, she was declared dead.

""How can somebody who can shoot her get so close to her with all the so-called security?" said a distraught Husain Haqqani, a former top aide to Bhutto, shortly after news of her death flashed around the world. Haqqani, who served as a spokesman and top aide to Bhutto for more than a decade, blamed Pakistani security, either through neglect or complicity, in her assassination. "This is the security establishment, which has always wanted her out," he said through tears.

For the past several months Pakistan has been plagued by a wave of violence that has seen hundreds of civilians killed in similar bombing attacks; and hundreds more military personnel, prompting President Pervez Musharraf to declare a state of emergency. On December 16th, Musharraf lifted the state of emergency, stating that the threat had been contained. The bombings, however, continued. Just hours before her assassination, Bhutto, 54, met with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai to discuss the threat of terrorism against both countries.

The U.S. has long supported a return to power by Bhutto, who was perceived to be a moderate willing to work with Washington on the war on terror. She was also seen as a democratic leader who would serve as a counter to the plummeting popularity of Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 military coup. It was thought that a power-sharing deal between the two, in which Musharraf stayed on as president while Bhutto lead as prime minister, would promote stability in this nuclear armed nation of 165 million. But from the day of her arrival in Pakistan after eight years in exile, Bhutto's return has been marred by violence.

On October 18th, a pair of bombs detonated in the midst a welcome home rally in Karachi for the former two-time prime minister, killing some 145 in a deliberate attempt on her life. The organization responsible for the carnage has not yet been identified, but Bhutto said she suspected al Qaeda and some unspecified members of Musharraf's government who did not want to see her return to power. Despite the clear threat to her life, Bhutto continued to campaign publicly with the kind of mass rallies that are the cornerstone of politicking in Pakistan. "I am not afraid," she told TIME last month, "I am ready to die for my country."

Haqqani, now a professor at Boston University, isn't sure what the latest bloodshed means for his country. "Will the Pakistani military realize that this is going to tear the fabric of the nation apart, and so really get serious about securing the country and about getting serious in dealing with the extremist jihadis?" he wondered. But he made clear he feels the best chance for such a policy has just evaporated. "She did show courage, and she was the only person who spoke out against terrorism," he said. "She was let down by those in Washington who think that sucking up to bad governments around the world is their best policy option."

Within hours of the assasination, protests and riots broke out in Pakistan's main cities. In Rawalpindi, vegetable vendor Naeem, 25, said Bhutto's murder would hurt Pakistan's poorest, who were among Bhutto's most loyal supporters. "People were hoping her government would help the lower classes and now she is gone," he said. Syeda Asmat Begum, 73, who lives in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, told TIME that "everywhere sadness prevails. We are in fear that even our leaders are not safe from the bombardment of suicide bombers and bullets."

That was a view felt around the country. In Lahore, where shops and restaurants closed and the streets emptied of people except for the center of town where Bhutto supporters gathered to vent their anger, Majid Iqbal, 26, an engineering student was trying to hitch a ride home because bus services had stopped. "People are very worried," says Iqbal, who called his family in his home village outside the city as soon as he heard the news. "If a leader of a great party is not secure then how can the Pakistani people be secure? At this time Pakistan's future is fragile."

Speaking on television outside the hospital where Bhutto died, the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said, "I myself feel threatened... Are things in control now? Had things been in control, would this have happened?" Bhutto's rival said, "We both were struggling for the same cause, and we had signed the charter of democracy." On camera, he addressed Bhutto's supporters, "I assure you that I will fight your war from now." He said, "It is tragic not only for [her party] but also for my party."

Pakistan can ill afford to sacrifice the few moderate leaders it has left. Bhutto's death will plunge the upcoming elections into uncertainty and the country further into instability. At the news of her assassination, many of her loyalists rioted in the streets of Pakistan. There will be many tense days ahead for the Musharraf government as it deals with this political crisis. And that's good news for terrorism. With reporting by Khuda Yar Khan/Islamabad, Simon Robinson/Lahore and Mark Thompson/Washington

Workers of the world unite for May Day rallies

By Richard Meares

Workers, students and leftists took to the streets for May Day rallies that stuck to tradition but also showed how the world is changing.

In communist Cuba, whose vast holiday parade has been a fixture for years, illness kept veteran leader Fidel Castro away for the first time in decades.

"We need him to return," said Luisa Cuellar, who rose before dawn to walk with friends to Havana's Revolution Square, the political heart of Cuba. "He is the one who keeps us united."

Police fired in the air to disperse crowds demanding labour rights in the Macau enclave of communist China, while in the United States, where May Day is usually ignored, activists planned to march for illegal immigrants' rights.

Protesters called for better pensions in Greece, work safety in Italy, more HIV medication in Zimbabwe and anti-American defiance in Cuba, where all citizens are expected to march.

Apart from Macau, clashes also flared in Istanbul, Tehran and Berlin but there were few of the street battles seen in Europe in recent years between police and opponents of globalisation.

Police beat and detained hundreds of leftist demonstrators in street fights in Istanbul, in a Turkey already tense after army threats and a million-strong march by secularists opposed to what they see as an Islamist presidential candidate.

Riot police fired tear gas and used water cannons to break up the crowds. Youths threw Molotov cocktails and burnt cars.

In Tehran, protesters seeking better pay and the resignation of the labour minister clashed with police after a rally at a sports stadium, where thousands had earlier protested against government economic policies. There were no reports of injuries.

"They're not paying for our hard work," said protester Ahmad Mirbakhsh, a May Day complaint shared by many around the world.

LONG LIVE THE WORKERS

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez chose the day of the worker to strip the world's biggest multinational oil companies of operational control over massive Orinoco Belt crude oil projects, a vital move in his nationalisation drive.

"The wheel has turned full circle," he told a rally, hailing the takeovers as the South American nation reclaiming its sovereignty. "Long live the workers."

In Germany, union leaders said half a million people joined rallies and criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party for resisting efforts by the Social Democrats' coalition partners to introduce a minimum wage.

"Everyone has to profit from the country's economic upturn -- and not just the rich and high-wage earners," said union leader Michael Sommer.

In Berlin, which has faced May Day violence every year since 1987, police detained 119 people for acts such as throwing bottles, stones and firecrackers at authorities. A spokeswoman said 15 police officers were injured.

At Moscow's biggest march, 20,000 people demanded higher wages and pensions and better working conditions.

About 5,000 Communist supporters waving red Soviet flags and holding pictures of Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin gathered outside a statue of Karl Marx in central Moscow. They called for mass protests to return socialist rule in Russia.

In Italy, half a million people gathered in Rome for an annual holiday rock concert and a further 100,000 waved red flags at a rally in the northern city of Turin.

One place without the usual street rallies this year was Bangladesh, where they are banned under a state of emergency.

Instead, the army-backed interim government urged labour groups to free themselves from the yoke of political parties.

Mugabe: Zimbabwe opposition trying to create anarchy

By Godfrey Marawanyika

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe accused the opposition of trying to foment anarchy Wednesday as the troubled southern African nation marked the 27th anniversary of its independence from Britain.

In a keynote speech at a packed football stadium in Harare, Mugabe fired a fresh broadside at his foreign critics, including the former colonial power, and accused opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of being a puppet of the West.

The celebrations have been overshadowed by an economic meltdown and mounting political violence but 83-year-old Mugabe said he would deal with "conspirators" trying to end his 27-year rule with the full force of the law.

"We have observed how of late this conspiracy has attempted to transform into a militant, criminal strain, characterised by the puerile attempts of misguided opposition elements to create a state of anarchy," Mugabe said.

"As government, our message remains clear: that we will never hesitate to deal firmly with those elements who are bent on fomenting anarchy and criminal activities," added Mugabe, who has been in power since the former Rhodesia gained independence on April 18, 1980.

Mugabe, already subject to Western sanctions over allegations he rigged his re-election in 2002, has come in for withering criticism from the United States and the European Union over the recent arrest and assault on senior members of the Movement for Democratic Change, including Tsvangirai.

The president, who has previously said Tsvangirai effectively asked for his treatment, again swatted away accusations he did not tolerate dissent.

"The opposition has all the room for its activities, provided they act legally. Once they start acting illegally they come up against the laws of the country," he said.

Tsvangirai was again accused by Mugabe of being used by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush as part of a campaign to bring about regime change.

"Blair and Bush say they don't recognise the president of Zimbabwe, they don't recognise the elections of 2002 and then Tsvangirai says: 'Yes, I agree with you'. That's where we differ with Tsvangirai," said Mugabe.

"If only he had ideas to improve the welfare of the people we would gladly accept those ideas. The only idea he has is that Mugabe should go and I, Tsvangirai, should come in."

Mugabe delivered his speech at a stadium in Harare's oldest township Mbare, a traditional stronghold of his ZANU-PF party where the first independence celebrations were held 27 years ago.

The 35,000-capacity stadium was full and security guards even had to turn away supporters.

The crowds repeatedly chanted "Gushungo, Gushungo", Mugabe's clan name. Many also held placards bearing messages of support and T-shirts bearing the slogan "Zimbabwe at 27".

Vice President Joyce Mujuru, who has been rumoured to be eyeing the presidency, was among those in attendance but heads of state from other southern African countries were noticeable by their absence.

While regional leaders have been wary of publicly criticising Mugabe, they are increasingly worried about the fallout from a country where inflation is zooming towards 2,000 percent and four out of five people are unemployed.

Tsvangirai was also absent but the MDC said there was little to celebrate.

"We would have wanted to attend this national event but who in his right sense would want to subject themselves to insults and risk being physically attacked," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

"Independence is about jobs, proper health care, freedom and justice but all these critical ingredients of independence are not there," he added.

Violence as Nigerians go to Polls

By Leattle Pablo (Paul Abojeh)

The first phase of the Nigerian polls – for Governorship and House of Representatives – has been conducted successfully, but not without some outbreaks of violence and demonstration in some states.

So far, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has emerged winner in most of the states whose results have been released. Other winners are the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) in Zamfara and Abia states, respectively.

These results seem to be the element that sparked off the demonstrations and violence, as many party supporters, protested on the streets citing rigging and electoral misconduct. There were protests in Osun, Ondo and Oyo states of Nigeria, with cases of journalists being attacked and women going almost half naked in protest.

There were more serious cases of violence in some states during the polling process.

Benin City, Edo State - There was vandalization of police vehicles with cases of violence. Three people were reported dead. The Labour Congress Party gubernatorial candidate Comrade Adams Oshiomole also reported in an interview with AIT journalists, that thugs working for the PDP stormed the polling stations brandishing sophisticated automatic weapons and escorted by policemen. Television reports also showed demolitions in some places.

Warri, Delta State - Violence was reported here; a policeman was shot and pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The shooting occurred during the polling process. Two police stations were burnt down.

Port Harcourt, Rivers State - Six policemen were shot dead in a violent attack during the polling exercise. The thugs are yet to be identified.

Kaduna, Kaduna State - I visited a number of polling units and observed that on a large proportion, the exercise was conducted amicably. There was however unpleasant occurrences at some polling units. There was the case of someone showing up at a polling unit and smearing indelible ink on already used ballot papers. These ballot papers were consequently cancelled.

Abuja, FCT - There was a case of an attempt to steal a ballot box, but the police intervened and the intruder was arrested. It was not stated who the individual was working for.

There were other cases of violence in some other states that were not covered in this report. The death toll nationwide is estimated at 40 persons. Besides these unpleasant occurrences, the exercise was successful.

Visiting some polling units in Kaduna, at night, I found party agents at the units up till 10:00PM Saturday night, making sure that the counting of votes was fair and transparent. It is encouraging to note that Nigerians are now taking national issues, seriously.

Keep your eyes glued to the news; I hope to keep you posted as events unfold.

*I regret the absence of photos and (or) videos. I couldn’t get any of these as I had no available camera or cam coder. Some of the information here was gotten from the African Independent Television (AIT) reports.