Washington Post
In Shift of Tactics,
Opposition Also Calls for Street Protests
By Craig Timberg
Washington
Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 26, 2005; Page
A18
JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 25 -- Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe have urged
voters to
boycott legislative elections on Saturday and instead prepare to
take to the
streets and challenge President Robert Mugabe after 25 years of
increasingly
authoritarian rule.
Although it appeared unlikely that
street protests would begin soon,
analysts predicted an extremely low
turnout for the elections, which come at
a time of increasing economic
problems, public discontent and tensions
between the Mugabe government and
the United States.
Opposition leaders said a very low turnout would
signal the end of a
six-year period in which they attempted to bring
political change through
elections. During that time, however, there was
recurring evidence that
Mugabe was manipulating the results.
Mugabe,
in pre-election campaigning, has called for a heavy turnout to
demonstrate
the vibrancy of Zimbabwean democracy.
U.S. Ambassador Christopher W.
Dell, who was threatened with expulsion this
month after publicly
criticizing the government, was quoted Thursday in
Zimbabwe's weekly
Financial Gazette accusing Mugabe of "Nazi" tactics.
The front-page
story, from a Nov. 8 interview, quoted Dell as saying, "It is
interesting
that the government is using tactics used in Nazi Germany, where
you accuse
another of doing exactly what you are doing as a distraction."
U.S.
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not dispute the
quote.
In recent years, Mugabe has closed newspapers, outlawed many
forms of
political freedom and overseen the collapse of the Zimbabwean
economy. In a
drive to clean up crowded urban communities, he has also
demolished poor
districts and driven residents out, drawing international
criticism.
The nominal focus of Saturday's vote is the election of
members to the
Senate, a new upper chamber of parliament that opposition
figures have
dismissed as little more than a jobs program for regime
cronies. It will
have few official duties and will not be able to block
legislation passed by
the lower chamber.
But the call for an election
boycott by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
has turned the vote into a
referendum on the usefulness of elections
themselves. The elections have
also been opposed by influential groups that
include the National
Constitutional Assembly, Women of Zimbabwe Arise and
the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions.
"The elections have brought nothing by way of meaningful
change to
Zimbabwe," said Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, speaking
from Harare,
the capital. "Mr. Tsvangirai is organizing Zimbabweans to
confront the
dictatorship. . . . Only through people power can Zimbabweans
change their
lives."
Tsvangirai has long endured criticism from other
opposition figures and
outside analysts for not challenging Mugabe more
aggressively, especially
after national elections in March and in 2002.
Protests are illegal in
Zimbabwe without explicit police permission, and
Tsvangirai has said he was
reluctant to put his supporters in harm's
way.
Now, his call for new tactics, including the boycott, has met fierce
resistance from within his own party, the Movement for Democratic Change. A
dissident wing of the MDC, dominated by the minority Ndebele ethnic group
from southern Zimbabwe, has refused to take part in the boycott. It also has
accused Tsvangirai of using heavy-handed tactics and undermining party
unity.
The dissident wing has fielded 26 candidates in the 50
contested races. An
additional 16 seats will be appointed, making for a
total of 66 in the
Senate. Analysts agreed that a strong showing among the
dissident candidates
could weaken Tsvangirai's leadership and his drive to
move toward stronger
tactics against Mugabe.
A poor showing by the
dissidents, coupled with a weak turnout nationwide,
could by contrast
strengthen Tsvangirai. It could give him momentum heading
into the party's
national congress in February, which will seek to settle
the direction of
the opposition movement.
John M. W. Makumbe, a Zimbabwean political
analyst, predicted that the
turnout Saturday will be less than 20 percent,
far below the previous record
low of 31 percent in 1996. That result, he
said, would lead to a major shift
in the Movement for Democratic Change,
which was founded in 1999 by union
leaders, human rights activists and civil
society groups.
"It will stop taking for granted that you can remove a
dictator from power
through democratic means," said Makumbe, speaking from
Harare. "Make the
dictator struggle to keep peace."
Faced with such
complex political dynamics, Mugabe has been campaigning
almost entirely in
the southern region, where the opposition party and its
dissident wing are
strongest.
The leading state-owned newspaper, the Herald, on Friday
predicted a turnout
of more than 3.2 million in a country of 12 million,
well above what most
analysts expect in an election that has produced few
rallies, campaign
posters or advertisements on radio and
television.
Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional
Assembly,
predicted that the vast majority of opposition supporters would
not vote.
"They are getting fed up," he said in a telephone interview
from Harare.
"You will see."
Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: Vote - The Senate is a
fact
Dear Mike and Fiona
I am sorry to disagree with you. It
is academic as far as I am concerned,
as we cannot vote anyway due to the
fact that we have been stripped of our
citzenship and taken off of the
voter roll.
But...
1 the pro-senate faction has been riddled
with CIO and ZPF under-cover
supporters. We know this, and we have
names.
2 it makes no difference whether one votes or not. The simple
fact is
that the poll WILL be rigged.
3 Some senate seats will be
"won" maybe by MDC "candidates". These are
the ones already in the pay of
ZPF or who can/will be used/manipulated.
4 There is NO democratic
process in Zimbabwe whatsoever, and MDC must
first re-visit their
constitution that is now out of date and does not take
into account the
situation in 2005 as opposed to the situation in 2000 when
there was still a
way to gain "democratic space".
5 The Senate will do nothing useful
for the people of Zimbabwe...you
admit this yourselves below, and it will be
just another tool of repression.
Let us be frank...MDC have no territory
anyway, they can do nothing that is
not crushed by the ruling party anyway,
so let's stop kidding ourselves. A
message of boycott would be much more
effective to the international
community. Taking part however is the
legitimisation once again of the
regime. There are those who firmly believe
that MDC made their biggest
mistake by taking up their seats in Parliament
in April. I agree.
These are the simple facts on the ground, and I know
that 98 percent of all
of the populace THAT COUNTS will not vote. The only
ones that will vote are
the rabid types and the poor people, who as I write
this, are being loaded
into trucks and taken to the polling stations where
they will be forced to
vote for ZPF candidates tomorrow. This is the
reality that we have learned
of today. Highfield is a particular example
tonight, according to my
sources.
Have we learnt anything from all of
the previous elections? Obviously not.
Democracy does not exist, your vote
counts for nothing, and the NCA, ZCFTU,
WoZa and all of civic society are
right. Tsvangirai may have made some
technical/legal "woopsies" on this
one, but he is absolutely right to
boycott...he has the people's interest at
heart. To take part in this farce
is in fact the ultimate insult to those
who have paid the ultimate price
over the last five years. And also
especially the hundreds of thousands of
victims of "Operation
Murambatsvina"!
Please, I may be wrong, and these are my personal views,
but somehow I doubt
it.
Best Regards
M.
----- Original
Message -----
From: Mike and Fiona Lander
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005
11:52 AM
Subject: Vote - The Senate is a fact
USE YOUR VOTE
WISELY
The Senate is unfortunately a fact. It is understandably thought
by those
who have fought, won and now represent the territory for the MDC
that it
must not be infiltrated by ZANUPF in any way. This was a people
decission
and not an idividual view represented by the 33-31 albeit narrow
vote. This
is the Democratic process
Every sensible thinking person
disagrees with the principle of a Senate,
but, and most importantly, it was
impossible to prevent the legislation
being passed
To Boycott is to
further split a people not just a party already divided.
This is just
another battle. It is better to fight and unify against tyrany
rather than
abstain. If you really support Democracy :-
VOTE TOMORROW - the 26th
November 2005
It's your priviledge and right - Do not allow the peoples
scrifices to be
wasted
ninemsn, Australia
Saturday
Nov 26 12:36 AEDT
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has dismissed the senate
elections in
Zimbabwe as a farce and a "cynical act of political
patronage".
Nineteen of the 50 contestable seats in the upper house are
already ceded to
President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party because no
opposition
candidates were running in those districts.
Another 10
seats are reserved for traditional chiefs chosen by the fiercely
pro-government Council of Chiefs and six senators are appointed by Mr
Mugabe.
"They (the elections) appear to be aimed at creating
expensive sinecures for
ZANU-PF cronies, while the real needs of the people
of Zimbabwe remain
unmet," Mr Downer said in a statement.
"The senate
elections will be conducted on the same unlevel playing field as
(the March
elections) - gerrymandered boundaries, flawed electoral rolls and
a range of
repressive legislation to control political debate.
"This farce is being
played out at a time when the people of Zimbabwe face
increasingly dire
economic times - 75 per cent unemployment, over 300 per
cent inflation and
acute shortages of necessities of all descriptions caused
by gross economic
mismanagement."
Mr Downer said he hoped the southern African nation's
neighbours could
persuade the government to change course.
Australia
would maintain its smart sanctions against Zimbabwe in the mean
time, he
said.
The federal opposition has called on Prime Minister John Howard to
use the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta to help
bring Mr
Mugabe before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over human
rights
abuses.
The 81-year-old former Marxist guerrilla leader came
to power in the newly
renamed republic of Zimbabwe in 1980 after fighting a
long war against Ian
Smith's Rhodesian Front government.
He won power
on a wave of popular support but his early political promises
of
reconciliation and democracy subsequently gave way to a strong
authoritarian
rule amid persistent allegations of ballot-rigging and brutal
crushing of
opposition.
He is blamed for plunging much of his country's population
into poverty and
driving thousands from their homes.
Around 3.2
million people are eligible to vote at 4,500 polling stations
across the
country, but a low turn-out is expected.
The ruling party won a
two-thirds majority in elections earlier this year
and used its numbers in
parliament to amend the constitution and create a
senate.
İAAP
2005
When the leaders of 53 nations sat down to dinner with their spouses and the
Queen in the ballroom of the Golden Sands resort in Malta last night, there
would have been much talk about the Commonwealth's shared values, but also some
awkward moments. By an accident of the alphabet, Tony Blair was placed next to the Ugandan
President, Yoweri Museveni, the latest member of the Commonwealth club to fall
into disgrace for ignoring the organisation's founding principles by throwing an
opposition leader in jail. Yet Mr Museveni was not the only offender of the
Commonwealth's ideals. The Maldives President and the Kenyan delegate could see
their countries accused of undermining the democratic values on which the
Commonwealth now stakes its reputation. The Pakistani Prime Minister, whose
country has been readmitted to the club despite President Pervez Musharraf's
refusal to abandon his military uniform in violation of another Commonwealth
principle, is also present. And the European countries in the hall last night
have been accused by Mr Museveni of being "sinful" in their unfair trade
practices. The Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, whose country is about to
execute a drug smuggler from Melbourne, is rubbing shoulders with John Howard,
the Prime Minister of Australia, who attracted universal opprobrium at home for
saying he would not raise the case of Nguyen Tong Van with Mr Lee during the
Malta summit. Mr Howard says he believes raising the case would be pointless. But his
position has only led to more questions in Malta: if such issues cannot be
raised over last night's dinner of crab mousse and sea bass after the summit was
opened by the Queen, what is the Commonwealth for? Mr Museveni was given a taste of what was in store for him in a meeting with
Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth secretary general, who spent an hour on Thursday
explaining that the arrest and military trial of the opposition leader Kizza
Besigye, after he returned from exile to challenge Mr Museveni in next year's
presidential election, "is leaving a lot of people disturbed". Mr Blair has also
used the opportunity to urge Mr Museveni to use due process in Mr Besigye's
trial. Mr Museveni told journalists: "Nobody is trying to stop him from [running in]
elections." He accused Britain, the former colonial power, of not having done
anything to institute democracy. But he also knows that the organisation has
ex-pelled or suspended countries that fail to live up to its democratic
standards. In the case of Uganda, the foreign ministers have already approved Kampala as
the next summit venue, but as Mr McKinnon said yesterday: "Twenty-four hours is
a long time in politics." The Commonwealth set out its code of principles at the Harare summit in 1991
- a fact not lost on diplomats who note that Zimbabwe is no longer a member,
after President Robert Mugabe stormed out of the last summit in Abuja in 2003
following the suspension of his country's membership. The Harare principles reaffirmed the Commonwealth's belief that
"international peace and order, global economic development and the rule of
international law are essential to the security and prosperity of mankind". They
committed the Commonwealth to protect democracy and democratic processes,
fundamental human rights, and "the freest possible flow of multilateral trade on
terms fair and equitable to all". Mr McKinnon has been peppered with questions about the relevance of the
Commonwealth today, as it is far from being the only forum to unite the
developed and developing world. He argues that the fact that new members are
knocking on the door is a sign of its continued vigour. But while the leaders themselves insist on the value of the closed-door
sessions, lower-level delegates openly describe the meeting as a waste of
time. Lord Triesman, attending on behalf of Jack Straw, could not even be bothered
to turn his United Kingdom sign the right way up. An Asian delegate said: "I've
always managed to avoid the Commonwealth, as it seems to be a neo-colonial
organisation in which even the neo-colonials have lost interest." On the agenda * INTERNATIONAL LAW Tony Blair and the Australian Prime Minister, John
Howard, are accused of having broken international law by joining the US-led
invasion of Iraq without UN authorisation. The Commonwealth's principles include
upholding "the rule of international law". * HUMAN RIGHTS The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, below left,
whose country is to host the next Commonwealth summit in 2007, is under fire for
the arrest on treason charges of his main opposition leader who planned to
challenge him in next year's presidential election. Kizza Besigye faces a
military tribunal on terrorism and firearms charges in a trial seen as
politically motivated. Diplomats and journalists are barred from the
proceedings. The Commonwealth is supposed to guarantee "fundamental human
rights". * FAIR TRADE The three European Union countries at the summit -
Britain, Cyprus and host government Malta - are accused of allowing the EU to
backtrack on its commitments to allow greater agricultural access to developing
countries in the Doha global trade round. Among Commonwealth principles is a
pledge for "the freest possible flow of multilateral trade on terms fair and
equitable to all". * DEATH PENALTY Singapore's determination to hang a drug smuggler who
is a national of fellow Commonwealth member Australia has led to calls for all
53 Commonwealth states to ban the death penalty. * CORRUPTION According to last month's annual index of the independent
corruption watchdog Transparency International, corruption is still rampant in
Commonwealth states such as Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon and Pakistan. Nigeria is
seen as a country where severe corruption has become chronic. The Commonwealth's
principles include a call for "sound international management". * DEMOCRACY The Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, fired his cabinet after
losing a constitutional referendum, and is ignoring opposition calls for fresh
parliamentary elections, raising fears of authoritarian rule. He has mandated
the outgoing Foreign Minister, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, to attend the Malta summit
in his place. In the Maldives, Jennifer Latheef, a political opponent of
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, below right, has been jailed for 10 years on
terror charges after a trial seen as politically motivated. The Commonwealth
stands for "free and democratic political processes".
The Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft in
Harare
(Filed: 26/11/2005)
The United States has publicly blacklisted
the business partner of Charles
Davy, father of Prince Harry's Zimbabwean
girlfriend.
The list, published this week, declares Webster Shamu, policy
implementation
minister in President Robert Mugabe's office, one of many
"specially
designated nationals and blocked persons".
Mr Shamu, 60,
is a business partner of the wealthy white farmer and safari
operator,
Charles Davy, the father of Chelsy, 19, the prince's girlfriend of
the past
18 months.
Mr Davy has always refused to distance himself from Mr Shamu,
a Zanu-PF
leader and a close confidant and crony of Mr Mugabe's.
A US
citizen found trading with any individual, company or entity on the
blacklist is liable to prosecution and a fine of up to $500,000
(£290,000).
The latest list was published by the US Treasury's Office of
Foreign Assets
Control on Thursday and marks the first time those included
have been named.
According to a White House statement, President George W
Bush ordered US
authorities to "block the property of additional persons
undermining
democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe, their
immediate family
members and anyone assisting them".
The latest list
expands sanctions already imposed by the US on 77
Zimbabweans in March
2003.
Designated officials would have received letters informing them of
their
status as of Jan 1, this year, which also means they would not be
granted US
visas.
Mr Shamu was already on a similar EU list which
includes a freeze on any
assets held in European banks.
Mr Davy
rejected criticism of his association with a key member of Mr
Mugabe's inner
circle in a June interview with The Daily Telegraph.
He said: "I am not
involved in politics in any way but I reserve my right of
association, as
any person should, and I really do not see that the leaders
of any political
party have the right to choose my friends or my business
associates."
Mr Davy, 53, lives in a mansion in the rugged bush of
one of Africa's
largest private game reserves, Lemco.