Leading European Union officials are warning that the general election in Zimbabwe on Thursday will be a sham.
About 5,8-million registered voters in Zimbabwe will vote on Thursday to elect 120 lawmakers in a 150-member parliament. President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition, are locked in a two-horse race.
The poll will be closely monitored to see whether it meets guidelines adopted by regional African leaders last year on free and fair elections.
But European Union (EU) officials are already warning that the election proceedings so far have failed to conform to accepted standards. They have indicated that the bloc will take swift action against the Mugabe government after the polls.
Speaking to members of the European Parliament on Tuesday, Nicholas Schmit, Luxembourg’s deputy foreign minister, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the conditions surrounding the March 31 general election were deeply worrying as Mugabe “would tolerate no observation of this sham election”.
“We’re worried and shocked, not only by this pseudo-election campaign, but by what’s been going on there for years,” he said.
Schmit also promised that the election would be debated at the next council of foreign ministers.
“As soon as these phoney elections have been held, I can commit myself to the fact that the issue of Zimbabwe will be on the Council’s agenda when we next meet,” he added.
Zimbabwe refused to allow EU countries to monitor its presidential elections in 2002. The election was tainted by widespread charges of violence, intimidation and poll fraud. In response, the EU and the United States imposed a travel embargo on Mugabe and members of his inner circle, which remains in place until June.
Russia is the only European nation amongst 31 others that has been invited to observe this year’s election.
British Socialist MEP Glenys Kinnock has also expressed concern about the elections. While she welcomed the courage of the MDC, she expressed doubt over the impact it would have.
“The MDC have again exhibited remarkable courage, determination and restraint in opposing Robert Mugabe’s thuggish dictatorship. Zanu and their apologists point to the calmer atmosphere than preceded the 2000 and 2002 elections, but are they seriously expecting plaudits for scaling back on the murder of political opponents and harassment of the legitimate opposition?” she said in a statement on Wednesday.
Kinnock also expressed regret that little has changed since the 2002 presidential elections, and pointed to the measures taken by the government to manipulate opposition voters.
“The truth is that this election will be as lacking in legitimacy as the last two. The same soldiers and Zanu thugs who beat and killed would-be voters now stand at the polling booths. Constituency boundaries have been gerrymandered to suit Zanu-PF,” she said.
“Government officials openly tell people that if they vote MDC they will be clearly able to see using the new transparent ballot boxes. There will be just 300 election observers to cover 8 000 polling stations and they have been given permission to observe the elections because they are not expected to be critical. The country’s independent press remains closed, and food aid continues to be used as a political weapon,” she added.
President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party has been ruling Zimbabwe since the country attained political independence in 1980 from Britain. Mugabe has only recently faced any serious challenge to his authority, in the form of popular protest and substantial gains for the opposition MDC, which refuses to recognise Mugabe as head of state.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe of human rights abuses and of wrecking the economy.
Inflation is currently running at 127%, one of the highest in the world, while the economy has shrunk by about 30%. More than 400 companies have shut down since 2000, leaving four in every five Zimbabweans unemployed.
About nine million people (75% of the population) live below the poverty line. About 100 children are born infected with HIV every day.
The government has promised a fair vote in Thursday’s general election and is believed to be eager to gain legitimacy after the heavily criticised polls in 2000 and 2002.
Mugabe has introduced some electoral reforms, such as an election commission and court to run the polls. But in spite of these moves, human rights groups have raised concerns about the climate of fear and intimidation in the run-up to the vote.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say MDC activists and candidates are still being harassed and that in rural areas, suspected MDC supporters are denied food aid. — IPS