Zimbabwe's Mugabe says to serve full-term if re-elected
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E-mail Xinhua, July 31, 2013
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader at 89, said Wednesday that he will serve a full five-year term if re-elected into the office.
Mugabe told reporters after casting his vote in a primary school in south Harare that he would be cheating his supporters if he retired before finishing the five-year term of presidency.
"Why do I offer myself as a candidate if it is to cheat the people by resigning soon after," Mugabe said.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for 33 years, will turn 94 when he finishes his sixth presidential term by 2018.
Zimbabwe passed a new constitution this year which for the first time stipulates that a person can only serve two five-year terms as the president. But it is not retroactive, meaning in theory that Mugabe can rule until 2023 if elected twice in a row.
For years, Mugabe has brushed aside speculations about his health, insisting that he is in shape to lead the country for another five years. His major challenger in polls is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who tried but failed twice to unseat Mugabe over the past decade.
Tsvangirai cast his vote earlier Wednesday morning, calling it "historic" as he regards it a delayed presidential run-off from the disputed 2008 polls.
Tsvangirai won the first round in 2008 presidential race but pulled out from the run-off, citing widespread violence against his supporters.
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