Also known as why Morgan Tsvangirai needs to watch his back, Part II. Bobby Mugabe, who has vowed to be president until he’s 100 years old, has made it crystal clear that he’s not going to honor a Movement for Democratic Change win in the June 27 presidential runoff election. He said flat-out Monday that challengers who try to get him to cede power would be arrested “in broad daylight,” and made his feelings for the electoral process clear in this quote, captured by the state-run media and reprinted by the International Herald Tribune:

“We are not going to give up our country for a mere X on a ballot. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?”

Mugabe claims he’ll paint any opposition victory as Western-orchestrated — just as he branded valuable food aid, which the government then suspended — and will bring out the “war veterans” militia to ensure that he stays in power.

(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)