The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called for investigations into allegations of fraud during Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections.
The union body — which staged a demonstration of solidarity with Zimbabwean workers on the eve of the elections on Wednesday — said it believed the elections took place in ”a flawed political and legal context”.
The statement comes after Zimbabwe’s election commission results on Saturday showed President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party garnered a two-thirds majority, winning 74 seats.
These, along with 30 seats appointed directly by the president, carried the party to a major victory.
”The results could be regarded as a legitimate expression of those who turned out to vote only if certain conditions are satisfied,” Cosatu spokesperson Paul Notyhawa in a statement on Saturday.
He said these included an accurate tally between people who turned out to vote and the announced results.
Notyhawa said there needs to be verification whether the claimed estimate of between 10% and 25% of voters who were turned away from the polling stations, would have made a difference to the outcome of the results.
”These allegations of fraud should be investigated expeditiously to avoid a slide into anarchy.
”In our view, the test for fairness and freeness of an election should be holistic rather than concentrating only on the day of voting,” said Notyhawa.
He said if these conditions were broadly met then the results would be an expression of the views of those who voted, ”and all parties must then accept the outcome.”
Mugabe (81) will be able to use a two-thirds majority to enact changes to the constitution that could help him prepare his retirement, expected in 2008.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 40 seats in the parliamentary elections held Thursday, according to incomplete results.
Notyhawa said they had hoped that the elections would have been ”a milestone in the normalisation of the dire political and economic situation facing Zimbabwe”. – Sapa