HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Saying the world can “shout as loud as they like,” President Robert Mugabe refused to give into pressure from Africa and the West and vowed to go ahead with this week’s runoff election, even though his opponent quit the race.

South Africa’s ruling party issued a toughly worded statement Tuesday calling on Mugabe’s government to stop “riding roughshod” over the opposition headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, who quit the presidential contest and sought shelter in the Dutch Embassy.

The African National Congress also warned against international intervention following a report in the Times of London that Britain has drawn up contingency plans for deploying troops in Zimbabwe to resolve a humanitarian crisis and to evacuate British nationals and their dependents.

“A lasting solution has to be led by the Zimbabweans and any attempts by outside players to impose regime change will merely deepen the crisis,” the ANC said.

It singled out Britain, the colonial power when Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia, saying it had not followed through on pledges to help fund efforts to put more land in the hands of black Zimbabweans. Britain has cited concerns about corruption.