On the eve of Zimbabwe's vote, Robert Mugabe says he will not support his old party: NPR

Robert Mugabe was sitting in a green office chair. He was wearing sunglasses and he looked small placed in the center of a gazebo in the middle of his huge estate in one of Harare's richest suburbs.

Just behind him, there was a pond, and at the bottom of a sloping hill, his mansion. A multilevel sprawling house flanked by granite lions and topped with blue tiles inspired by China that give it its name – "The Blue Roof".

For 37 years, Mugabe led Zimbabwe with an iron fist. But the mansion is where he spends most of his time now, since the army lobbied to resign in November. Since then, it has only been heard once in public. And the eve of the elections – the first time that he's not on the ballot since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 – the notoriously long Mugabe, was not on the point to remain silent.

"I can not vote for those who tormented me," he said. "I can not."

Mugabe then strongly hinted that he would support Nelson Chamisa, the young lawyer, pastor and leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

This was a remarkable act of political revenge.

Last year, Mugabe was ousted by his former vice president and executor, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Under Mugabe, Mnangagwa was exiled from the government, but he rallied abroad and convinced the army chief, Constantino Chiwenga, to join him in forcing Mugabe to leave the country. power.

In November, tanks rolled in the streets of the capital. Troops have surrounded Mugabe's home, and for the first time in decades, the army has allowed Zimbabweans to march en masse to call for Mugabe's resignation. Feeling cornered, Mugabe resigned. Mnangagwa took the presidency and Chiwenga became his vice president.

On Sunday, Mugabe spoke for nearly two hours. He was sometimes bitter, recalcitrant and always eaten by betrayal. He said he hoped that Monday's election would bring a better day.

And without irony, the man who ran a regime that violently dissolved dissent for decades said that he yearned for freedom days in Zimbabwe. He said that since he was ousted, his friends and allies no longer feel free to express their support for him.

"What have we become in the country," he said. "Have we become savages, terrorists for ourselves?"

Despite his ouster, Mugabe remains a powerful figure in Zimbabwe. He still has a base, and President Mnangagwa blamed Mugabe Loyalists for a grenade attack at one of his rallies earlier this month. His speech was closely followed and the leaders of Mugabe's former party, Zanu-PF, reacted quickly

Nick Mangwana, who is part of the Zanu-PF communication team, wrote on Twitter that they had been doing "conscious of the rumblings of a retired old man."

"He is retired and we will continue to respect him in this regard as cultivated Africans, regardless of the fact that he no longer deserves it," he writes. "He has 1 vote like us all and his choice of vote is respected."

Later in the evening, Mnangagwa tried to reverse the roles. He recorded a video message, saying that Mugabe's statement made it clear that he was now part of an alliance with the opposition.

"The choice is clear, either you vote for Mugabe in the appearance of Chamisa or you vote for a new Zimbabwe under my leadership and Zanu-PF," he said.

Mugabe, for his part, defended his record. He hinted that he had always won his fair elections and that he had remained in power without the help of the army. Over the years, however, human rights groups have documented systemic bullying and voter rigging. After the 2008 elections, for example, tens of thousands of people were displaced as the government unleashed violence against MDC supporters.

"Let's pray for tomorrow to bring good news," he said. "And I think the good news for everyone is to regain our freedom, to regain democracy."

The most credible poll has Mnangagwa and Chamisa in a dead heat.