JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Zimbabwe's government quickly distanced itself from an editorial in the state-run newspaper yesterday that called for a transitional unity government headed by the country's longtime strongman, Robert G. Mugabe, until new elections could be organized.
Zimbabwe has been plunged into political crisis since its disputed elections last month, with the government refusing to announce who won the race for president. Still, the ruling party has repeatedly argued that neither Mugabe nor his chief rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, won a majority of the votes, forcing the two into a runoff.
But yesterday, The Herald, the state-run newspaper often used as a mouthpiece for Mugabe and the ruling party, described the country's political dynamics as "so distorted that holding a free and fair election runoff in the immediate term is literally impossible."
Swiftly disavowing that position, Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told the BBC yesterday that the editorial had not been sanctioned by the government and that the ruling party, ZANU-PF, was still gearing up for a runoff.
Despite its grip on the nation, the ruling party has endured rifts and recriminations over its poor showing in the elections, particularly its loss in the lower house of Parliament. The mixed signals from the state-run paper and the government raised the possibility of continued divisions within the ruling apparatus.
For its part, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, which says it won an outright victory in the March 29 elections, immediately rejected the proposal and any resolution of the crisis that left Mugabe in power.
Meanwhile, in Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in Parliament that he would "promote proposals for an embargo on all arms to Zimbabwe," but gave no further details. Amid the political crisis in Zimbabwe, its government has been awaiting a shipment of Chinese-made bullets, mortars and other weaponry, but the prospect of the delivery when opposition supporters are being beaten and harassed has raised an international uproar. On Tuesday, China said it might turn the shipment around.
At the behest of the ruling party, Zimbabwean authorities have undertaken a recount in 23 parliamentary constituencies - enough to swing back control of Parliament to ZANU-PF. The leading opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has denounced the recount as an effort by ZANU-PF to steal an election it lost and reclaim its majority in Parliament.
