Opposition Leader in Zimbabwe May Face Resignation Demands

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The leader of the Zimbabwe opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, will face demands for his resignation if he boycotts a presidential election run-off against President Mugabe, the country's leading political analyst said yesterday.

According to official results, Mr. Tsvangirai beat the octogenarian president into second place in the first round in March, by 47.9% to 43.2%.

But Mr. Tsvangirai is threatening to boycott the poll in the face of a campaign of violence by Mr. Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, and Mr. Masunungure said doing so "may open the floodgates for a leadership change."

"There would be some big questions that would be posed that he may have difficulty in answering," he said. "They may decide that after all he has been at the helm for nearly 10 years and it's high time he steps aside."