Thousands of supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU(PF) party had gathered in Harare Wednesday on the eve of "an extraordinary congress" of the party, called almost exclusively to rubber-stamp his candidacy in presidential elections next year, according to dpa. No elections will be held for the party's top candidate, according to the congress agenda, which says the forecast 10,000 delegates will simply "declare the president elected." Previous congresses have never held secret ballots, making decisions instead by "acclamation" which analysts say allows for little room for dissent. Parliamentary, presidential and local government elections have been scheduled for March next year, amid renewed accusations of manipulation of the voters' roll and gerrymandering constituencies. The last three national elections, with ZANU(PF) and Mugabe declared winners, since 2000 have been dismissed as the result of rigging and violent intimidation. Mugabe (83), the oldest head of state and government in the world, has been ruling continuously since independence in 1980. When he was last elected in 2002, he indicated he would step down in 2008, but in the last year he has shoved aside potential opponents while senior party acolytes have been calling for him to be made "president for life." The congress is also due to discuss the state of the economy, preparations for the summer agricultural season - which the government has labelled "the mother of all agricultural seasons" despite critical shortages of seed and fertilizer - and an amendment to the constitution already passed by the parliament, which will effectively allow Mugabe to choose his successor. The last seven years of his rule have seen what was once one of Africa's most robust and diverse economies crumble into chaos marked by inflation of at least 15,000 per cent, famine, the fastest fall in gross domestic product in the world in a non-war situation, disappearance of goods from shop shelves, severe daily power and water cuts and a desperate shortage of cash in the near-worthless national currency. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank blame Mugabe for the collapse of the economy, with the most serious blow inflicted from 2000 by the dismantling of the country's sophisticated commercial agricultural industry through the lawless, violent eviction of white farmers. Addressing the party's central committee Wednesday, Mugabe blamed "bad weather and, in some cases, poor planning" but chiefly what he said was "the continuing diabolic campaign by Britain and her racist kith and kin putting a stranglehold on our economy." Ruling party national chairman John Nkomo said buses and trains would be used to ferry the 10,000 delegates from all over the country, while all the country's senior foreign-based diplomats have been summoned from all over the world to attend.
