Fay Chung calls for a courageous turnout in the Zimbabwean elections tomorrow

In an interview with the BBC, candidate Fay Chung calls on the electorate to take courage and come out to vote for change in the elections tomorrow.

Earlier, a former government minister told the BBC that Mr Mugabe might not be able to prevent one of the two main opposition candidates from winning the presidential election.

"I think the issue is whether the electorate is going to be brave or courageous enough to come out in large numbers, because I think the rigging of the election has been possible when there were small numbers dividing votes," Ms Chung said.

"But if you have millions coming out to vote, it will be very difficult to rig. If the polling agents and the observers are very watchful, it will become more difficult."

Ms Chung, a Senatorial candidate now allied to Simba Makoni, conceded that "there are a lot of 'ifs'", but insisted that Zimbabweans were desperate for change after 28 years of Mr Mugabe.

"I hear people saying... 'We are being abused. If we keep on electing the same government, we will continue to be abused'," she added. "So the question is: will they vote for the MDC or Simba's movement?"

Ms Chung said Mr Makoni's decision last month to stand against the president because of what he described as a "failure of national leadership" had begun a "period of change" in Zimbabwe.

"The steps taken by Simba Makoni have broken a Gordian Knot in which we were so tightly strung that we did not know how to get out of it," she told Radio 4's World Tonight programme.

"I think that whether he wins or not - I think he will win - he has changed the political geography of the country."

Ms Chung also acknowledged there was a potential for violence similar to that witnessed after the Kenyan presidential election last year, regardless of the result.

Read the full article on BBC Online...