United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is pleased weekend elections in Zimbabwe were relatively peaceful, but is concerned over the fairness of the vote, his spokesperson said on Monday.
”The secretary general notes that parliamentary voting held in Zimbabwe on March 31 was conducted peacefully, without the violence that has marred previous elections,” spokesperson Fred Eckhard said in a statement.
”He is concerned, however, that the electoral process has not countered the sense of disadvantage felt by opposition political parties who consider the conditions were unfair.
”He believes the government has a responsibility now to build a climate of confidence that will be essential for national unity and economic recovery in Zimbabwe,” Eckhard said.
”He calls on all sides to engage in constructive dialogue in the period ahead.”
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader slammed the elections as a ”massive fraud” as results showed that President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party was closing in on his party’s early lead on Friday.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 31 of the 120 contested seats, while Mugabe’s Zanu-PF took 32, with rural constituencies favouring the ruling party.
”This [is] disgusting massive fraud,” MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said in an interview. ”For people to even claim that this is a democratic process is simply not acceptable.”
Tsvangirai said there were discrepancies between the number of voters and the final tally from results announced by the Zimbabwe Elections Commission.
Turnout was below 50% during voting on Thursday, which passed off peacefully, in marked contrast with the previous elections in 2000 and 2002 when scores were killed and beaten in political violence.
Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, dismissed charges of fraud as ”nonsense” after he cast his ballot on Thursday, adding that he was ”absolutely confident” of winning a two-thirds majority for his Zanu-PF.
High alert
Police went on high alert on Tuesday after youths took to the streets in Harare to urge Zimbabweans to reject the outcome of elections overwhelmingly won by Mugabe’s party.
Police said groups of supporters of the opposition MDC stoned shops and assaulted passers-by in Harare on Monday to protest the results from elections their party said were rigged.
”All our arms are on high alert to ensure a peaceful post-election period,” police spokesperson Wayne Budzijena said.
”The police as previously stated will not tolerate any acts of violence and will use resources at its disposal to ensure that there is peace and security for everyone on the country.”
The youths were distributing flyers saying ”the MDC has rejected the election results and urges its members, supporters and all Zimbabweans to pressurise the regime into reversing this electoral fraud,” the police said.
The MDC denied that it had organised the demonstrations. ”It’s not correct to ascribe the protests to the MDC,” party information officer Maxwell Zimuto said.
”It could be anybody … it could be concerned Zimbabweans sympathising with the MDC or Zanu-PF thugs wearing MDC t-shirts to tarnish the image of our party.”
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF won 78 of the 120 contested seats in the March 31 elections against 41 seats for the MDC, which dismissed the polls as a ”massive fraud”.
Bvudzijena said two youths were arrested following the incident and that investigations were ongoing. ”We are looking at 50 or more people who were involved,” he said.
Tsvangirai maintains there were discrepancies between the number of voters who cast ballots and the final tally announced by the Zimbabwe Elections Commission.
He said his party would consult its members on the course to take following the ”flawed” elections endorsed as free and fair by observer missions from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the African Union.
The United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union have refused to recognize the elections as democratic, arguing that conditions leading up the vote favoured Zanu-PF, in power in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. — Sapa-AFP