With the Zimbabwean Opposition withdrawing from this Saturday’s run-off presidential poll in a bid to protect its supporters from further violence, Robert Mugabe has achieved his stated aim – holding onto power.

“Only God, who appointed me, will remove me, not the M.D.C., not the British,” Mugabe said over the weekend, before adding that the bullet is mightier than the ballpoint pen.

For the time being at least, no-one, not his political opponents, his fellow Zimbabweans, his African neighbours or the global community, appears to have the means or the will to prove Mugabe wrong.

Here is how opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai explained the decision to Zimbabweans overnight. (Read the full statement here.)

Given the totality of these circumstances, we believe a credible election, which reflects the will of the people is impossible. We remain unreservedly committed to free and fair elections in the country. The conditions prevailing as of today do not permit the holding of a credible poll.

The militia, war veterans and even Mugabe himself have made it clear that anyone that votes for me in the forthcoming election faces the very real possibility of being killed.

Zimbabweans have also shown how brave and resilient they can be. They have withstood years of brutality, impoverishment and intimidation. They are dedicated to a New democratic Zimbabwe.

But, we in the MDC, cannot ask them to cast their vote on June 27th when that vote could cost them their lives.

Therefore, we in the MDC have resolved that we will no longer participate in this violent, illegitimate sham of an election process.

The courageous people of this country, and the people of the MDC have done everything humanly and democratically possible to deliver a New Zimbabwe under a New Government.

We urge SADC, AU and the United Nations to intervene urgently in this unprecedented situation to restore the rule of law, peace, and conditions for a free and fair election.

We are going to articulate our vision and the way forward to the people of Zimbabwe and the world, after further consulting the people.

Finally, we salute and thank all the suppressed masses of Zimbabwe who have been maimed, raped, tortured, lost homes and properties in the pursuit of a noble cause of wishing to see a free and democratic Zimbabwe. I sympathize with you over the loss of your loved ones in these final phases of the struggle. Victory is certain, it can only be delayed.

Zimbabwe opposition leader pulls out of runoff. The United States and Britain are pressing to have Zimbabwe’s political crisis debated on Monday in the United Nations Security Council, a step South Africa, the southern African region’s most powerful nation, has consistently opposed. But Mr. Mugabe, in power for 28 years, has made it difficult for his fellow African heads of state to pretend there is anything normal about this election. He has repeated declared at public rallies in recent days that he would never allow Mr. Tsvangirai, whom he denounces as a pawn of Britain, the former colonial power in Zimbabwe, to become president through the ballot box, vowing that the bullet is mightier than the ballpoint pen. — Celia W. Dugger and Barry Bearak, New York Times

“Mugabe declared war and we will not be part of that war”. Zimbabwe’s hopes of democratic salvation ended yesterday amid clouds of tear gas and intimidating mobs of armed men who blocked opposition attempts to hold a legal rally in the capital. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, responded by pulling out of a run-off against President Robert Mugabe, saying that conditions for an election had become impossible, that the result was preordained and that his supporters were being murdered in a “genocide” which should be stopped by the UN. “We can’t ask the people to cast their vote … when that vote will cost their lives,” he said. “We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election. Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of that war.” – Daniel Howden and Basildon Peta, The Independent

Today is the day that democracy died in Zimbabwe. What died in Zimbabwe today was democracy, not hope: Robert Mugabe has finally killed democracy … I find bitter-sweet comfort in the fact that the last election Zimbabwe ever had that could be considered ‘free and fair’ enough to be marginally acceptable internationally, was the one where Robert Mugabe lost both the parliamentary and the presidential poll. Comfort too in the fact that it was those in the rural areas who finally turned their backs on him. Robert Mugabe will be damned by that, and he will be damned by his undignified scrabble for power regardless of the will of the people. – This is Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s collapse is no longer question of if, but when. In the past South Africa, and in particular President Mbeki, has shielded Mr Mugabe from outside pressure. There is now growing evidence that Zimbabwe has become an embarrassment for African leaders and a burden on its neighbours, where millions of Zimbabweans have sought sanctuary. SADC members such as Zambia, Tanzania, Angola and Botswana have broken ranks to criticise Mr Mugabe’s regime. He has also come under regular attack from South Africa’s ruling African National Congress and its leader, Jacob Zuma, Mr Mbeki’s likely successor next year … As a first move, the international community can refuse to recognise Mr Mugabe when he is sworn in for another term as President. Sanctions can be increased against the leadership, particularly any figures responsible for the latest violence. If South Africa throws its full weight behind the effort, the regime in Zimbabwe will be doomed. – Richard Beeston, Times Online

Mugabe must be kicked out of the SADC now. Morgan Tsvangirai’s decision to withdraw from the run-off presidential election against Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has thrown down the gauntlet to Southern Africa’s compromised political leaders. Regional leaders, and South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki in particular, failed to act against Mugabe even as evidence of the torture, murder and mutilation of opposition campaigners mounted. They have not raised a finger to stop brazen election rigging and what now amounts to the theft of the run-off election by Mugabe’s thugs. Mbeki was in Harare last week to try to broker the laughable idea of a “government of national unity”, which some see as a last desperate gambit to keep Mugabe in power if Tsvangirai had won the poll. – Editorial, The Times (South Africa)

Kenya’s says Mugabe should go. Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has called on world leaders to pressure Robert Mugabe to step down, labelling the regime of the Zimbabwean despot “an eyesore on the African continent”. Mr Odinga said the international community should pressure Mugabe to step down and should send peacekeepers to Zimbabwe to oversee free and fair elections there. “Do we have conditions for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe at the moment? The answer is no, you don’t,” Mr Odinga said of a June 27 runoff presidential vote between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. “It’s already been pre-rigged,” Mr Odinga said, citing beatings and arrests, arson, the repeated detention of Mr Tsvangirai and more than 100,000 soldiers already casting ballots under the watchful eyes of police. “It would be best for the international community to insist for Mugabe to step down, and send an international peacekeeping force,” he said. Mr Odinga criticised fellow African leaders for failing to speak out against the violence plaguing Zimbabwe ahead of the presidential polls. – African Press International