Maravi

Zimbabwe's situation is extremely worrying

Zimbabwe's situation is extremely worrying
By Editor
Thursday April 10, 2008 [04:00]

The Zimbabwean situation is extremely worrying. Tension is unnecessarily building up following elections 12 days ago. While it cannot be denied that these are the most democratic, most free and fair elections held in Zimbabwe since independence, the withholding of the announcement of the presidential results for this long negates all this.

Credit must be given to the Southern African Development Community leadership in general and to South African President Thabo Mbeki in particular for the very efficient and effective mediation in the political differences in that country prior to the elections.

The negotiations that President Mbeki brokered produced an environment or conditions under which free and fair elections could be held and have been held in Zimbabwe.

For the first time in Zimbabwe’s post-independence history, they had an electoral commission which was representative of the opposition and the ruling party.

And a lot of other things were negotiated and agreed upon. And all these have contributed to the holding of elections that can be said to be free and fair.

This is one fact that needs to be acknowledged even by our European and American friends who seem to think only they know everything and only they have got the best ideas and solutions to everything.

The conditions which were set up, with the help of President Mbeki and the SADC leadership, have created a better opportunity for resolving whatever post-electoral challenges may arise or have arisen in Zimbabwe. And the Saturday extra-ordinary meeting of the SADC leaders is timely.

It doesn’t make much sense to withhold election results for this long. And it doesn’t seem right for the ruling ZANU-PF to demand a recount of the presidential vote of election results that have not been announced, that are supposed to be known only by the Electoral Commission.

It is very important that ZANU-PF ensures that the electoral rules and procedures which were established under its leadership are adhered to.

For sure, these elections were not easy for ZANU-PF; they have been the most difficult elections for them since independence. This is really the worst performance they have ever had in any election. And it is not accidental.

These are the worst conditions for any ruling political party or sitting president to go to the polls.

The Zimbabwean economy doesn’t offer much electoral prospects to the ruling party. The hardships which the Zimbabwean people have to endure everyday are many and are multiplying by the day. This is not an exaggeration.

It is a matter of fact. The people of Zimbabwe want to get out of the situation in the hope of improving their lives that they have seen shattered over the last seven years. There are many factors that have led to this situation, to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis.

And among them are the sanctions – although denied by the Americans and Europeans – which the country has been subjected to over the last seven years. And a country with low levels of national unity cannot survive what Cuba has survived for over 40 years of economic blockade.

Whether they accept it or not, the Zimbabwean leaders created a fissure that led to all this drama; that weakened their people and themselves.

It is hoping for a miracle for any ruling party to win an election under these conditions. And the best thing for ZANU-PF is to concede the inevitable and accept the fact that they no longer hold the support of the great majority of the Zimbabwean people as they used to do.

Their invincibility has been crushed. It will take a lot of political skills to salvage something out of this. Zimbabwe can no longer be governed in the way it has been governed by ZANU-PF and President Robert Mugabe over the last 27 years. Not even the opposition MDC can govern it in that way. Things have changed and attitudes have to change.

It is time ZANU-PF realised that for them to get out of this situation with dignity, they may need to make compromises which yesterday they never thought they would ever make, that is, to find a way to work with MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai.

This is because even for MDC and Tsvangirai, it will not be easy to govern that politically highly divided country without attempting to increase the levels of national unity.

And for this reason, we believe it is necessary for ZANU-PF and President Mugabe to seriously reconsider their position on the proposal by MDC and Tsvangirai to have a government of national unity. It can’t be simply a question of sweepstake winner because there is no such winner in Zimbabwe. What we have in Zimbabwe can only be a collective winner and a collective loser.

There is need for the Zimbabwean people and their political leaders to conclude these elections in a manner that increases the confidence of our people in their ability to elect a government of their choice.

Nothing should be done to undermine the value or importance of elections in that country because if this happens, people will start to choose their leaders in a different way – probably with their blood.

Elections are a central institution of democratic representative governments because in a democracy, the authority of the government derives solely from the consent of the governed. And the principle mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of free and fair elections.

And such elections should not be merely symbolic – they should be competitive and definitive elections. By definitive we mean that the elections should determine the leadership of the government, popularly elected representatives should hold the reigns of power.

Democracies thrive on openness and accountability, with one very important exception: the act of voting itself. To cast a free ballot and minimise the opportunity for intimidation, voters in a democracy cast their ballots in secret.

At the same time, the protection of the ballot box and tallying of vote totals must be conducted as openly as possible, so that citizens are confident that the results are accurate and that the government does, indeed, rest upon their consent.

When the election is over, the losers accept the judgement of the voters. If the incumbent party loses, it turns over power peacefully. No matter who wins, both sides agree to cooperate in solving the common problems of society.

The losers, now in the political opposition, know that they will not lose their lives or go to jail. On the contrary, the opposition can continue to participate in public life, with the knowledge that its role is essential in any democracy worth of the name.

Democratic elections, after all, are not a fight for survival, but a competition to serve.

If the Zimbabwean elections were simply democratic elections providing a competition to serve, we wouldn’t expect any problems after the elections. Problems should only be expected if these elections were meant for something else.

But if these elections were a fight for survival, why hold them? If ZANU-PF and President Mugabe have lost the election, let them simply handover power and take over the opposition role with the hope of bouncing back at the next elections.

It is difficult however, to know the true results in Zimbabwe without them being announced and verified by all those who took part in them.

We therefore sincerely hope the SADC leadership will this Saturday be able to resolve this impasse and allow the Zimbabwean people to move forward with their lives in line with the way they voted.

Labels: SADC, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 3:26 AM