Is the environment conducive for legitimate elections?

As Zimbabwe gears up for the presidential runoff on June 27 2008, cases of political violence have been increasing, particularly against members of the opposition party, the MDC. The MDC's president, Morgan Tsvangirai, has also been prevented from holding campaign rallies by the police force. The question that remains is whether the presidential runoff is going to be free and fair, given the already uneven ground for preparation.

Ordinary people are most affected, especially those from the rural areas, who since the war of Liberation have been living in poverty and subject to the brutality of the army. And today Mugabe still sends his militia to torture the rural folk and gain all the votes he lost on March 29.
 
In one of the incidents in the rural areas,  ZANU PF thugs tried to stop civil society organisations from reaching people in the rural areas in Matobo, about forty kilometres outside Bulawayo. The Matobo police watched helplessly as ZANU PF hooligans disrupted a consultative meeting called by Matobo Agenda in Silozwi to discuss the Presidential run-off. Hundreds of villagers had turned up for the meeting when they were scared away by the hooligans who were milling around the shopping centre clad in t-shirts emblazoned with the image of the Zanu PF presidential candidate. People were visibly scared even to discuss among themselves, fearing that they would be targeted. The meeting had been cleared by the police.

The disruption followed the assault on Tuesday 2 June 2008, of Precious Ndlovu, the Matobo Agenda chairman, for putting up posters for the meeting. Ndlovu was reported to be among those people targeted by war veterans. He had to flee to Bulawayo after concerns were expressed about his safety. Bulawayo Agenda had earlier vowed to go ahead with the meeting, but later backed down after assessing the situation.

Silozwi is one of the areas where war veterans have set up base camps to spearhead a fear campaign ahead of the Presidential run-off on 27 June. They have already confiscated Freeplay radios from the villagers, claiming they were  listening to regime change propaganda from pirate radio stations. The police have failed to act in both cases.

Since the poll results were announced, Zanu PF has yet to get over the shock of its defeat by the MDC. The party’s fear of loss of power has led to a wave of political violence which has swept the country since the election. The MDC has in the past weeks been burying scores of it supporters murdered by Zanu PF militia. Many have suffered injuries while others have had their houses burnt down, especially in the rural areas.

The hope in perpetrating such violence is to instil fear among the electorate so that they either vote for Zanu PF, or do not exercise their right to vote at all. It is also sad to note that the police -- who should be acting as the law enforcers -- have done nothing with regards to the violence. In some cases, the police have even dismissed reports by victims, saying they will be dealt with after the run-off. However, what Zanu PF has failed to realize is that the current economic situation in Zimbabwe has convinced the electorate that now is the time to try something different in the political arena.

For the election to be free and fair there has to be a level ground of preparation for both the contesting parties. However, Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC party have been denied that platform for preparation, as the police have refused to sanction a series of rallies which the party intends to hold in Matabeleland North. The Zanu PF party refuses to hand over power to the MDC, claiming that by so doing they are defending national democracy and sovereignty. It is ironic that the party does not have faith in the democracy it claims to be representing, and has to resort to violence to ensure it remains in power.   

The state electronic and print media have also denied MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai access to the public, by refusing to flight the opposition party’s campaign adverts. The state media is being threatened by the Zanu PF government against “aiding the MDC”. Eight journalists have been suspended from ZBC, being accused of being sympathetic to the opposition. Giving only Zanu PF the platform to communicate with the public has been done with the hope that the electorate will vote for Zanu PF. However, it is not clear how an electorate that clearly voted against President Mugabe can suddenly change their mind and vote for him.

There have been talks about a government of national unity before a run-off, but is that really viable? Who is going to lead that government: Morgan Tsvangirai who defeated Mugabe on March 29, or Robert Mugabe who has repeatedly said that Tsvangirai will never rule this country? Zimbabwe’s biggest issue at hand is the current economic situation and it is unlikely that such a GNU will be quick to address the economic crisis.