Maravi

Free and fair elections in Zimbabwe

Free and fair elections in Zimbabwe
By Editor
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]

Whatever results come out of this month’s Zimbabwean presidential election runoff will not be fair. We say this because there is no way free and fair elections can be held under this environment. First, it is not possible for the Zimbabwean government to conduct free and fair elections under this atmosphere. Actually, it was a miscalculation for the Zimbabwean government to hold elections under these conditions.

The amount of external interference in the affairs of that country is excessive.
Over the last seven years, leading western countries have been leading and financing the campaign for a regime change in Zimbabwe. And these are countries that do not normally allow external financing of their own elections. Their political parties and candidates are very restricted in how much external finance and support they can receive. Imagine what the reaction of the United States would be if some leading countries in the world today went to America and started to accuse President George Bush of being a murderer, a fascist who has killed innocent little children in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia and that as such, he and his party should be kicked out of office! And if these countries started funding the opposition, what would be their reaction?

There is too much external pressure that has been brought to bear on the Zimbabwean elections, electorate and candidates. How can one have free and fair elections under such conditions? People’s criteria and decisions are almost completely influenced by external pressure and propaganda.

And this pressure is coming from countries that in the first place took measures to ensure that Zimbabwe was ungovernable. They imposed sanctions on the country to ensure that those in power lose the support of the people as a result of economic hardships. And this they have achieved although they always deny that Zimbabwe is under sanctions. They claim that they are still financing Zimbabwe in so many ways. Yes, they do send some money to Zimbabwe but the question is who do they give it to? They give it to their own agents to help them further undermine the authority of those in office. Zimbabwe is under sanctions; its credit lines have been cut – it cannot borrow and do business effectively and efficiently internationally. It is not receiving any budget support which the majority of African countries are receiving and cannot do without. Really, under such circumstances, can one hold free and fair elections under which citizens can freely express their will? We don’t think so.

It was a big mistake for the Zimbabwean government to go to the polls without creating a level playing field for themselves and for all others taking part in these elections. They should have demanded an end to external interference before holding elections. They should have also demanded the lifting of all sanctions before elections were held.
Probably, they underrated the capacity of their external enemies and the effect of their actions on Zimbabwe and its people. But this is the price that is always paid when one underrates one’s enemies or opponents.

And the truth is the enemies and opponents of the current Zimbabwean government today have the balance of forces tilted in their favour. They can even rightfully claim victory. The Zimbabwean government of President Robert Mugabe is today in a tight corner, in almost a catch 22, a checkmate. And they are now resorting to very desperate last-minute measures.

When they decided to hold elections, they should have realised that they were expected by not only their enemies and opponents and the people of Zimbabwe, to hold free and fair elections. And by free and fair elections we mean elections that are not merely symbolic but are actually competitive and definitive; elections in which the chief decision makers in the government are elected by citizens. This cannot be said to be the case in Zimbabwe today. Democratic elections must be competitive. Opposition political parties and their candidates must enjoy freedom of speech, assembly and movement necessary to voice their criticisms of the government openly, and to bring alternative policies to the voters. Simply permitting the opposition access to the ballot is not enough. Elections in which the opposition is barred from the airwaves, has its rallies harassed or banned are not democratic. The party in power may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair.

We don’t think, considering the way things are going now in Zimbabwe, citizens will be confident that these elections will produce a result that reflects their true will and that the government that will emerge from these elections will indeed rest upon their consent.
This being the situation, what is the purpose of these elections?

As we have already pointed out, the conduct of the British government, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the white Rhodesians and their supporters in South Africa together with their media does not give Zanu-PF and President Mugabe a chance to fair and free elections. Equally, the conduct of the Zimbabwean government does not give MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai a chance to free and fair elections. But there will be a winner of the June 27 election runoff however unfair and unfree these elections might be. The fear is not that there will be no winner. Our concerns arise from the fact that elections are the central institution of democratic representative governments. And in a democracy, the authority of the government must derive solely from the consent of the governed. The principal mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of free and fair elections.

It is clear that democracy does not mean many things, it simply means that governments are closely linked to the people, arise from the people, have the support of the people and devote themselves entirely to working and struggling for the people and the people’s interests; it implies the defence of all the rights of citizens, including the right to independence, freedom, national dignity and honour. It therefore also means that the subordination of one country to another must disappear before democracy can exist.

In the conditions that are within and that surround Zimbabwe today, there can’t be any kind of democracy.

This is what happens to a country when internal divisions and differences are not resolved and the nation’s basic problems are not tackled because there is no cooperation among the people and the whole system becomes a tool of imperialism for maintaining its domination.

Labels: ELECTIONS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 3:14 AM