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Report on Zanu-PF strategies: No naked violence, coercive tactics
remain
Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition
April 13, 2013
ZANU-PF will
not go for naked violence as a strategy to win the high stakes poll
to be held in 2013, but will prefer “the means of manipulation
that yield the greatest benefits at the lowest cost”, an incisive
report by the Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) has revealed.
The report was
launched at the SAPES
Trust in Harare on Wednesday April 10, 2013 where CiZC Regional
Coordinator Dr. Zamchiya, who did the research, addressed academics,
the media corps and members of the Civil Society who were in attendance.
Dr Zamchiya
pinpointed some of the strategies that are being used by Zanu-PF,
including balking at the efforts to reform key players relevant
to elections such as the Registrar General’s Office.
“Whereas
ZEC plays a crucial role, another Zanu-PF strategy is to ensure
that the Registrar General which plays a more practical role in
terms of organisation and management of elections is tactically
insulated from reform pressure.
“ZEC is
the overseer while the RG’s office is the engine,” the
scholar said.
Partisan voter
registration of members of the security forces and manipulation
of the voters’ roll could be part of the party’s strategy,
Zamchiya argued.
“In the
absence of a ZEC nationwide voter registration process, partisan
voter registration is taking place. Most MPs I have spoken to in
the past months have confirmed this development. Soldiers and police
were also bussed to register to vote.
“Whilst
there is nothing wrong with encouraging soldiers and the police
to go and vote, it is the partisan insinuations that leave a lot
to be desired,” Dr. Zamchiya said.
He surmised
that Zanu-PF could try to manipulate the postal vote to win the
swing constituencies some of which were won by the MDC-T by less
than 20 votes. Zamchiya said these postal votes had increased in
the March
2008 elections to about 64 000 from 8000, adding that if these
were manipulated and evenly distributed in the swing constituencies,
they would be enough to overturn the MDC-T victory and win the seats
for Zanu-PF.
Patronage, targeting
of faith groups such as the apostolic sects and maximum mobilization
in the constituencies seen as strongholds were also identified as
part of the Zanu-PF strategy to regain political hegemony in the
eye-opening report.
Zamchiya said
while it was clear Zanu-PF could not entirely move away from coercive
tactics as shown by the targeting of Non-governmental Organisations
(NGOs), confiscation and banning
of radios and the arrest
of Beatrice Mtetwa, it had shunned naked brutality and ceased making
claims of holding “degrees in violence” to avoid a bad
image.
“That
is, all things being equal, Zanu-PF would prefer a psychological
warfare as compared to a physical warfare. The broader intent can
be summarized as the harvest of fear.
“It is
a plan to intimidate and threaten citizens by drawing on past memories.
The plan is already unfolding in targeted constituencies.
“There
will still be cases of violence, some spontaneous and others organized
to target those who pose the greatest threat to Zanu-PF’s
hegemony,” said Zamchiya.
Zamchiya said
Zanu-PF will also try to blame the victims for always trying to
ride on sympathy after victimization.
“The political
strategy is to paint the MDC as a dishonest party but this will
be difficult as long as there is hard evidence of the scars of state
sponsored violence like the case of Christpower Maisiri who was
burnt to death in Headlands in what looked like political arson.”
To substantiate
some of the claims in the report the researcher quotes prominent
Zanu-PF officials such as Didymus Mutasa, George Charamba, Nathaniel
Manheru and Jonathan Moyo.
Visit the Crisis
in Zimbabwe fact
sheet
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