Pushing presidential elections to 2010 could prove costly for Zimbabwe as it is certain to increase negative publicity for a country that will also be eyeing a share of Africa’s first World Cup hosting, analysts warned on Friday.
Synchronisation of presidential and parliamentary elections is one of the main proposals expected to be tabled and adopted at the ongoing Zanu-PF annual conference that kicked off on Friday at Goromonzi, about 40km north-east of Harare.
Presidential elections are scheduled for 2008 but could be moved to 2010 to coincide with parliamentary polls if the Zanu-PF conference approves the synchronisation proposal from eight of its 10 provinces.
But analysts on Friday questioned the wisdom of moving the presidential polls to 2010, saying political violence and human rights abuses ”usually pick up in Zimbabwe around election time”.
Zimbabwe was going to hold general elections for Parliament in 2010 anyway. But analysts said topping up the parliamentary poll with a presidential ballot to decide who succeeds President Robert Mugabe could only help lift political violence — including possible intra-party violence between rival factions vying to control Zanu-PF in the post-Mugabe era — to unprecedented levels.
”Tension and violence usually reach fever pitch during elections, and nobody in their right mind would show their face in Zimbabwe during an election year,” said University of Zimbabwe political scientist and Mugabe critic John Makumbe.
Makumbe said he is convinced soccer fans coming for the World Cup will certainly stay away from Zimbabwe.
The last presidential poll in 2002 that was controversially won by Mugabe was marred by violence and gross human rights abuses, including several cases of political killings.
Local and international observers from the Commonwealth, Norway and the Southern African Development Community parliamentary forum described the election as not free, fair or a true reflection of the will of the electorate.
The analysts said timing of joint presidential and parliamentary polls is important as this has serious repercussions on the economy.
”Knowing Zanu-PF, they will do anything possible to ensure a victory, even at the expense of the economy and the friendship of those few that have stood by the country since this crisis started six years ago,” said an economist with a Harare commercial bank, who declined to be named for professional reasons.
He said presidential elections are normally a high-stakes affair where Zanu-PF would ”usually not do things according to the book”.
”Zanu-PF is excellent at mistiming. That is exactly what they want to do when we should be making money out of this international event,” said Makumbe.
The analysts said the only options available to Zanu-PF are to hold the joint polls in 2008 or after the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa.
Southern African countries are hoping to benefit from the influx of visitors who will come for the tournament.
No word from Mugabe
Mugabe on Friday accused Western powers of seeking to overthrow his government but stayed clear of the controversial plan by his ruling Zanu-PF party to extend his rule beyond the expiry of his term in 2008.
Officially opening the Zanu-PF conference at Goromonzi, Mugabe repeated his usual tirade against former colonial power Britain and its Western allies he accuses of sabotaging Zimbabwe’s economy in a bid to incite a revolt against his government.
”European countries, Britain and [the United States] want to direct what should be done here, direct that there should be a change of government in Zimbabwe. Is it because that they have a white colour which gives them authority to interfere in non-white countries?” said Mugabe.
The Zimbabwean leader says the West wants to topple his government as punishment for seizing white land for redistribution to landless blacks.
Mugabe, who most Zimbabweans say has ruined the country’s once-brilliant economy through his controversial policies such as farm seizures, acknowledged that the country is experiencing its worst economic crisis to date. ”We know you are bearing more than you can bear,” he said.
But the veteran leader, in power since Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence from Britain, did not refer to plans to postpone the presidential election due in 2008.
Mugabe, as has become his routine at almost every public fora, also criticised senior officials of his party and government who he said had grabbed multiple farms from whites against state policy of one man, one farm. He said the same senior politicians are again lining up to grab the bulk of deposits of precious minerals recently discovered in the country.
Zimbabwe has in recent months discovered sizeable deposits of diamonds in the eastern Manicaland province, but powerful politicians are already jostling to gain control of the new diamond field.
Mugabe has in the past ordered his officials to give up excess farms but they have ignored him. The Zimbabwean leader is yet to act against his officials for ignoring his orders to surrender excess farms. — ZimOnline