There are glimmers of hope that Mr Mugabe may win this election and yet lose power. His own former finance minister, Simba Makoni, is running against him. His best-known rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, is drawing large crowds... The election commission may even find the courage to defy the Zanu (PF) strongmen. Whatever happens on Saturday, the time has come to stop appeasing the monstrous Mr Mugabe.
Excerpted from ‘Robert Mugabe: a bad man in Africa’, a leader in The Times, London, March 26