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Mugabe has the means to manipulate Zim polls, says ICG

Mugabe has the means to manipulate Zim polls, says ICG
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Thursday March 27, 2008 [16:00]

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has asked the international community to prepare contingency plans in anticipation of rigged elections in Zimbabwe that could precipitate a potentially violent crisis. ICG Africa program director Francois Grignon said President Robert Mugabe had the means to manipulate the election process before, during and after balloting, sufficiently to keep his office though possibly only after a violent run-off.

"If the election leads to further confrontation, the African Union (AU) should be ready to promptly offer mediation for a power-sharing agreement to produce a transitional government with a reformist agenda," said Grignon in a statement issued three days before Zimbabwe's general elections tomorrow. "Zimbabweans desperately want change but have little faith these elections will produce it.

Even after the March 29 vote, a negotiated compromise will likely be essential to reverse a deteriorating political and economic situation but only as the first step." He said the SADC mediation by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, which once offered the most realistic chance of resolving Zimbabwe's eight-year crisis, had failed and, therefore, primary responsibility lay with President Mugabe who unilaterally called snap elections and ruled out passage before the polls of the new Constitution. Grignon said the ruling ZANU-PF had subsequently been using all the extensive means at its disposal to maintain an unfair advantage in the campaign.

He said in case of a potential power sharing agreement, a settlement would not necessarily need to remove Mugabe. "He might serve as a non-executive head of state during a transitional period in advance of fresh elections.

The important point is for the region to be prepared to act quickly if the elections do not produce a legitimate government that can deal with a national crisis whose consequences are increasingly being felt beyond Zimbabwe's borders. With South Africa and the SADC having lost some credibility, the AU needs to take the lead," stated Grignon. Grignon stated that the wider international community must also be ready to provide concerted backing to AU-led mediation.

Labels: ELECTIONS, ICG, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 4:50 PM