"The Zimbabwe Situation" news page
Urgent
ZIMBABWE
ITSVA
The people of Zimbabwe have spoken and expressed their
choices for parliament. We are conscious of the extraordinary obstacles
they faced to vote, and the exceptional performance of the MDC, will
ensure healthy debate in parliament.
Our primary aim is
to restore confidence in the country. This is not the time for
partisanship. We have to focus on rebuilding this nation
and moving forward. I know there will be people who are disappointed
but we need to remain focussed on the fact that people have given us a
mandate for democratic change.
There can be no defeat, no
misery for a party that believes in the right of a people to express
their will in the manner they wish. Everyone must congratulate
themselves for the incredible determination people displayed in their
desire to vote. Destiny sometimes requires that we follow a circuitous
path to achieve greater glory, other leaders have said there is no easy
road to freedom and that is true. Freedom is treasured because
it is so difficult to obtain. So precious and often so
tenuous.
The message the people of Zimbabwe have given is an
important one for politicians: Zimbabweans have to learn to work
together.
Zimbabweans are perhaps showing greater political maturity than
they have been given credit for, they are saying that they are entitled
to have their own minds, their own belief systems and freedom of
choice.
Having said that we need to take a closer look at the
election results. The MDC repeatedly said there could be no free and
fair elections in the violent times we have faced - international
observers have reiterated this.
We are closely scrutinising
election results at present. We believe that there are at least 20 seats
that we will either ask for a recount or that we will take legal
action about. In any area where we lost by a margin of 500 or less we
will ask for a recount. And in some areas we will
take additional legal action. As an example, in Marondera East as an
example, we lost that seat by 63 votes. We will ask for a recount. But
more than that we will file charge under Section 105 of the Constitution
against Sidney Sekeramayi, Minister of State Security and the ZanuPF
candidate in Marondera East for a process of intimidation including his
widely reported statements that he would track down those who did not
vote for ZanuPF.
The intense coercion, intimidation and violence
some of our people experienced shines through in the results. If we take
a look at Mashonaland East, as an example, that entire area was
terrorised by war veterans and ZanuPF thugs over the past three months.
Eight of the 31 MDC supporters murdered during ZanuPF's campaign of
terror died in the normally quiet farming areas of Mashonaland East. The
very third casualty in the post-referendum violence was Tinashe Chakwenya
who was shot dead in Marondera on April 4; 10 days later farmer Dave
Stevens and two unnamed MDC supporters were beaten to death at Macheke,
six days after that Stevens foreman was murdered. On May 7, farmer Allan
Dunn was pulled out of his farmhouse and bludgeoned to death, four days
later another farmer John Weeks was murdered.
In the
final three weeks before people went to vote Mashonaland East reported
endless barricades, farmworkers and villagers being beaten or forced to
march through lines of ZanuPF, farmers being threatened, crops being
burnt, the farms of small communal farmers being destroyed, shops looted
and houses burned to the ground.
In the immediate weeks before
the election Mashonaland East saw ZanuPF and war veterans destroying the
identity discs of people - all of this we detailed in our daily violence
and intimidation reports. And the fact that these reports were issued on
a daily basis speaks for itself.
On June 16, a week before the
election we reported that 15 war veterans arrived at the home of MDC
co-ordinator Andrew Mapande in Mutoko North. They began beating him
and demanding lists of polling agents - which they seized and destroyed;
Mapande fled and his home was destroyed.
The candidate in Hwedza,
Pearson Tachiveyi was hounded out of the country by threats from a
senior military officer. He only returned to the country on the first day
of voting. It did not help too, that many of the electoral officers in
many of the stations were notorious war veterans in many areas, or that
in areas like Chegutu, ZanuPF were allowed to place posters on polling
booths or distribute t-shirts and pay voters.
For the past
two weeks we have repeatedly talked about a process of progressive
disenfranchisement and problems with voters rolls, and those problems not
only persisted but were enhanced over the two day
voting period.
In Makonde, as an example, voting at
polling stations began very late. Although voting was supposed to begin
at 7am, at most polling stations it had still not begin by 9.30am, and
many opened only at noon and at 1pm. Makonde experienced the late
delivery of voters rolls, paper, ink and
other necessities.
We need to highlight the significant
achievements of our women candidates. ZanuPF has only two women
candidates in parliament, whereas eight of the 10 MDC women candidates we
put forward have been elected to parliament. All of our women candidates
- and indeed all of our candidates put in remarkable performances. To
note but one, Eve Masaiti of Mutasa saw her house burnt down and that of
dozens of her supporters. 100 of them have been living in a single
tent for close to a month; they have been subject to ongoing
raids, assaults and threats from ZanuPF supporters. Her bravery and that
of her supporters has been an example to us all. In her constituency she
polled 9 258 votes while ZanuPF was only able to achieve 5
281.
It is important to note the following, these election
results mean that neither ZanuPF nor President Mugabe:
*
Can amend the constitution without our consent.
* Mugabe will not be able
to reintroduce a Senate because he needs a two-thirds majority to amend
the constitution.
* Chiefs will be elected on June 29 - they will not go
against the will of their people.
* We believe there are enough in
ZanuPF who are concerned about the declining economy and the shocking
living standards of most Zimbabweans to ensure that we will be able to
form informal coalitions within parliament to push through more
progressive legislation.
The people of Zimbabwe have begun the
process of reclaiming power and the institution of true democratic
change.
Keep up the
momentum!
Regards,
MDC Support Centre
8th
Floor, Gold Bridge
Eastgate
Harare
Guqula
Izenzo/Maitiro Chinja
"Zimbabwe's strength lies in racial and
ethnic diversity - we will overcome attempts to divide us" (Morgan
Tsvangirai)