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(TALKZIMBABWE) S.Africa blocks move to delegitimize Zim election

S.Africa blocks move to delegitimize Zim election
Ralph Mutema
Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:14:00 +0000

COUNTING of votes cast in the presidential election run-off held in Zimbabwe yesterday is under way in the capital Harare, amid reports that South Africa has blocked a move at the United Nations to declare the election illegitimate. President Mugabe is tipped to win by a landslide in the election dubbed a ‘sham’ by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change’s leader, Morgan Tsvangirai after he boycotted it.

The United States and its allies in Europe had pushed for a resolution that would have delegitimized the election and questioned its credibilty.

The move was blocked by South Africa arguing that the Security Council was not mandated to certify elections.

The council instead issued an oral statement expressing “deep regret" that the election went ahead after widespread calls for it to be shelved.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, immediately responded to this block and said the US would introduce a UN resolution calling for sanctions against Zimbabwe.

This move was criticized by African foreign ministers meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

They issued a statement saying that getting President Mugabe and the opposition MDC to talk will have better results than punitive measures.

Moses Watangula, in contrast to Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga’s hard-line stance, said the route of sanctions was not going to help the situation in Zimbabwe.

MDC FLIP-FLOPPING

This news came as a blow to MDC leaders whose rhetorid immediately changed in response to the block by the UN.

Ralph Black, the MDC's representative in the United States, who has dismissed a Government of National Unity (GNU) before seemed to change his stance.

He has told a radio programme before that a GNU was “… like asking a cancer patient to heal them self when they need help from a Dr.,” but yesterday he told Al Jazeera that a GNU was the only alternative.

"They must agree to form a government of national unity," he said.

"The two parties must come together to select and share power, but we believe Mugabe must not be part of a unity government — this is because the destruction of Zimbabwe's democratic institutions lies squarely at his feet."

The MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai also seemed to have been cornered and was softening his previous hard-line stance.

On Wednesday he said he would ‘never’ negotiate with President Mugabe if the run-off election went ahead.

He was quoted by CNN and BBC today saying he would go to the negotiating table if the ‘conditions were right’.

Briggs Bomba, a Zimbabwe activist for Africa Action, a non-profit organisation, was quoted by Al Jazeera—the only international news agency allowed to broadcast from Zimbabwe—that the strategy the MDC is using has not been effective.

"What the MDC could have done was to mobilize mass popular support inside the country," he said.

Labels: ELECTIONS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 7:18 PM