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Zimbabwe Election Watch Issue No. 15
Sokwanele
January 15, 2008

http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/zew_issue15_150108.html

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Bone-weary Zimbabweans dragged themselves into the new year after a Christmas season memorable for the chaotic monetary situation, dearth of food, grinding poverty and endless queues.

In a weekly open letter from a small Zimbabwean town, the writer comments: "It is hard to believe that Zimbabwe will be ready for an election in just 56 days time. The logistics of an election are enormous under normal circumstances, but mammoth in a country which has all but collapsed". Every aspect of an election, from the campaigning to the advertising, voting, monitoring and counting is swamped with problems..."

In his new year message, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai reminds Zimbabweans that the situation requires a great deal of courage, endurance and resilience. With respect to the forthcoming elections (presidential and legislative), he says a lot of work is still pending to repair the voters' roll and the historically disputed electoral management system before any legitimate election, with a legitimate result, can take place.

He notes that, contrary to the letter and spirit of the current Pretoria negotiations, the Zanu PF regime has deployed the military, Tobaiwa Mudede (the Registrar General) and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to mark constituency boundaries and register voters. Tsvangirai reiterates it will be impossible to hold an election in March.

MDC MP David Coltart (AM) expresses a similar view in his January newsletter: "The concern of many is that if elections are held too soon, Zanu PF will be able to claim legitimacy through a process which has a democratic facade but which in reality does not allow for a genuinely free expression of the informed will of the electorate... We in the MDC say that there must be a new democratic constitution in place and sufficient time for its provisions to be implemented before an election is held. Zanu PF appears to be determined to push ahead with a March election without any opportunity for (the newly negotiated) laws to have any meaningful effect on the electoral environment..."

Even provincial chairpersons of Zanu PF have reportedly told the leadership that the present schedule leaves little time to choose candidates and organise campaigns.

The Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum, a pro-human rights group, is adamant that no election can ever be free or fair if the estimated five million Zimbabweans who have been forced to leave the country for political or economic reasons are denied their right to vote. Contrary to international electoral regulations, the Zimbabwean government does not allow citizens based outside the country to vote.

In this issue we report that the Zimbabwean government will prohibit foreign observers deemed to be biased from overseeing the elections.

Independent local and regional election observers have expressed concern about the lack of transparency in the delimitation of new constituencies and the MDC says it will not recognise the exercise because it is seriously flawed.

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa says the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission has no mandate to determine that elections must be held in March, as talks between the ruling party and opposition have yet to be concluded in Pretoria.

Lawyers representing the publishers of The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday say the Media and Information Commission has yet provide them with a date on which the newspaper's application to resume operations will be held.

Intimidation and harassment of non-governmental organisation workers by Zanu PF youth militia and traditional leaders in rural areas is increasing.

Traditional chiefs in most parts of the Midlands province are being forced to take charge of Zanu PF cell branches in an attempt to coerce villagers in rural areas to vote for the ruling party.

Impoverished farmers are having to show they are loyal members of Zanu PF if they want free equipment being handed out by the government.

The recent government decision to abolish the executive mayor's office is yet another political strategy aimed at undermining the MDC's influence in urban areas, the party's holders of the posts have said.

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