Zimbabwe Election Watch : Issue 19
Observer mission selection criticised as partisan
A Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission comprising about 80 officials from the region was due to arrive in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare on Sunday - 19 days ahead of the March 29 elections.
SADC said it expected to have around 150 observer delegates in place before the combined presidential, parliamentary, senate and local government elections.
South Africa is due to send an observer mission with 54 members drawn from government, parliament, the political opposition and civil society. South Africa has previously observed elections in Zimbabwe independently, but for this crucial election, the group will operate under the auspices of SADC. The controversial 2005 election was endorsed by South Africa, generating widespread criticism.
The South African-based Electoral Institute of Southern Africa has sought permission to send observers, but a spokesman for the group said it awaited a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An application was also under consideration from the Parliamentary Forum of SADC, whose application to send observers to the 2005 general elections was turned down.
The Zimbabwean government announced last Friday that European Union member states, the United States and the Commonwealth had been excluded from the list of observers to be invited. The only European country to be invited is Russia. China, now a major trading partner and provider of surveillance equipment, is also on the list.
The EU and USA both imposed targeted sanctions on President Mugabe and his inner circle after widespread allegations that he had rigged his re-election in 2002.
Expressing grave concern about the biased selection of observer groups, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Morgan Tsvangirai said it showed the government had a lot to hide.
Similar criticism came from the Law Society of Zimbabwe, which said the exclusion of Western monitors highlighted the democratic deficit.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a domestic election-monitoring and observation group, had to submit applications for election observers to the Ministry of Justice. The ZESN said it would face major difficulties if its observer applications were rejected.
Armed forces dogged with controversy
Zimbabwe’s army commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, has pledged the army’s continued loyalty to President Robert Mugabe, even if he loses the presidential election.
His comments come on the back of indications that hundreds of soldiers have been deployed into the rural areas, where Zanu PF has a maintained stranglehold using well-honed strategies of intimidation and vote buying. Soldiers have been told to return to their rural homes to help with the Zanu PF election campaign.
Chiwenga’s statements echo those of the Zimbabwe Prisons Service (ZPS) head, Paradzai Zimondi, who has instructed the police force to vote for Mugabe. However, in surprising show of defiance, junior ZPF members are reported to have lambasted their commissioner, branding the order as “insane”.
Both factions of the MDC and independent candidate Simba Makoni, who is a former Zanu PF finance minister, have criticised the police for continued harassment.
A spokesperson for the Mutambara faction, Abednico Bhebhe, said his group had lodged a complaint with the electoral authorities, protesting intimidation of supporters. He said conditions were not conducive for a free and fair election.
“Boys on Leave”
On March 7, the Zimbabwe Independent published information on a “hidden strategy” to destabilise Mugabe. The article was written by leading Zimbabwean journalist Dumisani Muleya.
According to informed sources, Simba Makoni’s election strategy includes roping in state security agents, especially army officers who are currently deployed by Zanu PF in districts, constituencies and wards around the country to mobilise support for Mugabe.
Known as “Boys on Leave”, the army personnel are usually deployed six months before elections. Accused of vote rigging, the “Boys on Leave” were key in Mugabe’s controversial 2002 victory, which was essentially run by the military.
If true, this strategy, which may have been inadvertently revealed, is further proof that the government’s practice of election rigging is initiated months before elections and well before any election observers arrive in the country.
Through ZEW we have consistently stressed that elections are not an event but a process.
The data collated in our project reflects the rigging reality on the ground - with concrete examples. Sokwanele therefore urges the observer teams to take into consideration the full scale of rigging throughout the build up to the elections and not to judge them from their arrival in the country just a couple of weeks before the poll.
Loosening the purse strings
An increasingly edgy Mugabe has awarded huge pay rises to the army (reported in last week’s issue of ZEW - issue 18) and is now providing them with decent and adequate food.
Traditional chiefs, who have publicly backed Mugabe’s candidacy, have also seen their financial allowances raised.
In a bid to appease rural voters, the government is once gain parcelling out farm machinery, described as “tractors for votes” by veteran commentator John Makumbe, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
Raising concerns
Political analyst Brian Raftopoulos, who has observed all of Zimbabwe’s elections since the arrival of the opposition MDC in late 1999, says a climate for free and fair elections does not currently exist.
His views are endorsed by the South African Communist Party, which says there is no way the elections will be free and fair if the period leading up to the polls is not peaceful.
The South African Congress of Trade Unions (COSATU) says that each SADC country is supposed to follow the SADC guidelines, but the government of Zimbabwe blatantly deviates from the norms and the regional body never does a thing to condemn such actions.
The European Union is also reported to be very concerned about the humanitarian, political and economic situation and conditions on the ground.
Voting issues
The issue of postal voting for voters inside the country has once again been raised, this time in the Zimbabwe Standard. Although postal voting is enshrined in Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is not included in the Zimbabwean constitution.
However, the Electoral Act stipulates that “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely-chosen representatives” and that “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”
Contrary to the requirements of the Electoral Act, ongoing arrests of opposition party members, the banning of voter meetings and door-to-door campaigns, as well as the disruption of rallies persists.
Media watchdogs report that the state media continues to provide preferential and blatantly biased reporting in favour of the Mugabe government.
At the recent launch of Zanu PF’s manifesto, in which Mugabe offered no solutions to resolve the escalating crisis, national chairman John Nkomo reiterated that losing elections was not an option.
Read the full article on our website here. This includes a detailed breakdown of all breaches and provides links to information sources. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive our articles by email.
