Mugabe fails in bid to switch poll result
Four weeks after a Presidential election for which we are still to be given the official tally, the news coming out of Zimbabwe is that Mugabe's recount is not going the way he would like it to, and that he has not managed to overturn any of the results of the election.
It means the first defeat in 28 years for Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party after Zimbabwe's electoral commission (ZEC) yesterday released seven more results from the recount, changing none. It brings to 13 the number of seats recounted, with 10 remaining to be declared - all in strong opposition-held areas. Zanu-PF would need to win nine to regain control.
Results have still not been released from the parallel presidential poll which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won, beating Mugabe outright. Independent monitors estimate that Tsvangirai won, but fell just short of the 50 per cent threshold to avoid a run-off. The MDC accuses Mugabe of delaying results to rig his victory and has rejected any run-off.
And as Mugabe arrests opposition members and uses brutality up and down the country ahead of the rerun for the election of the president, the United Kingdom have raised the matter of Zimbabwe at the United Nations.
The only hope here is that South Africa and other country's in the region can be embarrassed into recognising the illegitimacy of Mugabe's claims and to begin to publicly speak out against him. At the moment their silence is enabling him to continue to brutalise the opposition and to ignore the electorate.Britain has called for a United Nations mission to investigate human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, saying opposition supporters were suffering an increase in violence a month after elections were held.
The UN Security Council, overcoming objections from South Africa, which currently holds the presidency, is due to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe for the first time on Tuesday. Yesterday Gordon Brown, who is seeking an arms embargo on President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party, said: "The whole international community must speak up against the climate of fear in Zimbabwe", and pledged British help to rebuild the country "once democracy returns".
Outside pressure appears to be the only hope for Zimbabwe's battered opposition. Hundreds of supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have been attacked and burned out of their homes in the four weeks since the party won a parliamentary majority in the 29 March election. The result of the presidential poll held the same day has still not been announced, almost certainly because Mr Mugabe was decisively beaten by the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
It's simply bizarre that Mugabe hasn't managed to rig the recount to his advantage, although there is no indication that a small thing like an electoral loss is going to diminish his desire to cling to the presidency.
However, as we wait - one month after the election - for those presidential election results to be released, surely even the Mbeki's of this world will find it increasingly difficult to defend Mugabe's position?
He's not even giving them a PR story to defend in public, he's simply refusing to release the results whilst attacking supporters of the opposition.
'I think for the first time, at a very crucial moment, Mugabe is losing diplomatic support in the region and without that support his ability to survive politically is diminished,' said Eldred Masunungure, a professor of political science at the University of Zimbabwe.One can only hope that the professor is right.
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2 comments:
May I ask, what is the primary source for the statement that Tsvangirai did not get 50%+ of the votes?
www.zimelectionresults.com calculate 50.3%. That site is based in SA. The results were phoned into a call centre from throughout Zimbabwe.
Diplomatic pressure is important. It is the direction that you misunderstand.
Governments all over the world need to stop the key enablers.
Weapons - the unions in SA stopped the An Yue Jiang and the governments followed.
Bank notes (this is the biggest sub-prime scam of all time) - supplied by Germany
Fuel - supplied by .. you guessed US and American firms.
Each country needs to look to its conscience in how it supports regimes such as these. Now the Zimbabwean people have shown they will not cave in, the ripple effects are moving across the world.
Many many thanks to SATAWU who were an important tipping point, as have been the actions of many many people who have not made the news.
May I ask, what is the primary source for the statement that Tsvangirai did not get 50%+ of the votes?
The Guardian say that this figure came from independent monitors.
Governments all over the world need to stop the key enablers.
Weapons - the unions in SA stopped the An Yue Jiang and the governments followed.
Bank notes (this is the biggest sub-prime scam of all time) - supplied by Germany
Fuel - supplied by .. you guessed US and American firms.
Each country needs to look to its conscience in how it supports regimes such as these. Now the Zimbabwean people have shown they will not cave in, the ripple effects are moving across the world.
I agree that all of our governments need to do more, but I also feel that Mbeki is as much an enabler as the west. Mugabe is able to portray every western intervention as a form of colonialism, he would not be able to write off harsh words from South Africa with that tactic.
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