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Post presidential run-off election report: Fourth edition
Zimbabwe Peace Project
July 31, 2008

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Overview

The Background

This Report comes against the background of one of the most highly politically charged election periods in Zimbabwe's post independence electoral history, an era typical of a nation at war with itself. As chronicled in the June Post Election Violence Report, rural areas were virtually sealed off from opposition rallies while freedom of movement was severely curtailed with villagers being asked to carry passes and other authorizing letters if they intend to visit another village. Hate speech, incitement of violence, and threats of war characterized electoral campaign rhetoric.

Calls by Thabo Mbeki [the South African President and commissioned SADC mediator between ZANU PF and MDC], Jacob Zuma [the South African ruling ANC president] and the former South African President [Nelson Mandela] to postpone the election, exhorting the two political actors to engage in power-sharing talks did not see the light of day as the ruling party presidential candidate argued that they were only amenable to negotiations after the election and ridiculing those criticizing the decision to go ahead with the poll as "making idiotic noises that would not bother us". So were the calls by the then SADC chairperson and president of Zambia, the late Levy Mwanawasa; the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security, and Jean Ping, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

The condemnations that accompanied the run up also dogged the election outcome with world leaders dismissing the presidential run-off as a "sham" or "farce", the African National Congress Youth League Chairperson Julius Kalema calling it "a joke of the worst order", UK based Zimbabwean lawyer and political analyst Alex Magaisa describing the election outcome as "pyrrhic victory for ZANU PF" while South African based Zimbabwean businessman Mutumwa Mawere referred to it as an election that had "no sheen of legitimacy" with another local commentator caricaturing the election as "stone-age politics on display".

Reports by the Pan African Parliament Observer Team, the African Union Observer Mission, the Botswana Observer Team, and the SADC Election Observer Mission [SEOM] Preliminary Report also roundly condemned the election process and outcome as generally "not giving rise to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections", "falling short of accepted AU standards", "not representing the will of the people of Zimbabwe", and "not conforming to SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections', among others. The Group of Eminent African leaders that include Nelson Mandela also expressed visible disquiet on the conduct of elections, generally describing the election as illegitimate and in fact a dark patch in Africa's electoral history.

Observed scenarios

While elections have come and gone amid reports of a resumption in inter-party talks between ZANU PF and the two formations of the MDC, scenarios from July ZPP monitoring reports tell a different story. Election violence is reportedly in stubborn retreat!

The political climate remains tense, fear of retribution still haunting the nation. Society is yet to come to terms with the ugly scars of the pre-election era. Opposition politics is still viewed as a political crime. Tolerance of different political views or even the sight of someone donning opposition regalia remains on the low side in both urban and rural areas, while opposition activities remain on blackout on the national electronic and press media. Just a week after the election, an incident of arson was recorded in Chitungwiza on 6 July when a factory belonging to Kambuzuma MDC MP Elect was reportedly petrol bombed.

While unity and peace talks are going on at the political leadership level, in some provinces, it is business as usual. The message of peace is yet to cascade to grassroots structures. In most rural constituencies, new violence campaigns have emerged under operations Show Red Finger, No Vote No Food, Why Did You Vote and Akavhotera MDC Muno Ndiyani [Account for the MDC Vote]. Under Operation Show Red Finger, not having the indelible red ink on one's finger was akin to endorsing the MDC NO VOTE campaign. At Hopley farm in Harare, by 28 June, a witch-hunt for those who voted for the MDC had started with reports of eviction threats to those suspected to have voted for the MDC or spoiled ballots.

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