The leader of the Democratic Alliance, Helen Zille, has argued strongly against the idea of a government of national unity (GNU) in Zimbabwe, saying that it will allow President Robert Mugabe to stay in power, with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as very much a junior party.
Writing in her online newsletter on Friday, Zille, the mayor of Cape Town, said ”A GNU sounds deceptively pragmatic and sensible. I oppose it because it will vindicate Mugabe’s reign of terror. It will enable him to stay in power. It will be the final death knell for democracy in Zimbabwe. This so-called ‘solution’ will actually exacerbate Zimbabwe’s problems — and spread the contagion far beyond.”
Zille argued that the rot started in Kenya where the establishment of a GNU was negotiated with the help of international mediators, following an election reportedly rigged in favour of the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.
”This deal enabled a rejected president to cling to power, with his successful challenger in the more junior position of prime minister,” she said.
”This deal seems to have set a precedent whereby African leaders can manipulate (or ignore) the outcomes of elections they lose. If power cannot change hands through the ballot box, democracy is dead.”
Zille takes President Thabo Mbeki to task for apparently pressing the cancellation of the run-off election and the idea of the GNU on the Zimbabweans. The rationale for the cancellation of the election is that ”the run-off might exacerbate the situation”.
Zille said it was ironic ”that Mbeki has until now justified his inaction on Zimbabwe by saying that Zimbabweans themselves must determine their future through the ballot box. The world therefore expected him, as the official mediator in Zimbabwe, to do what was necessary to ensure conditions conducive to a free and fair election.
”Instead he allowed Mugabe to run an unprecedented intimidation campaign and force a presidential run-off election when he should actually have conceded defeat. With the possibility that Mugabe could lose the run-off despite his threats of war, Mbeki now wants to help him avoid an election altogether.”
Last chance
The DA leader said that Mbeki and the African Union have one last chance to do the right thing in Zimbabwe and other emerging democracies in Africa. The African Union’s own constitutive act gives them the right to intervene in a member state in grave circumstances that include war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. At least two of these conditions, she said, apply in Zimbabwe.
”This may require a postponement of the 27 June poll — in order to move swiftly and decisively to create conditions for a proper election, the new date of which must be announced simultaneously with the postponement of next week’s poll,” Zille said.
”A new election must take place within three months, at the latest.”
She insisted that the African Union must immediately take the necessary steps to prepare for this election in Zimbabwe. With the material and logistical backing of the United Nations, the AU must deploy a peace-building force in Zimbabwe.
Their mandate must be to end the terror and create conditions for an election in which it will be safe for Zimbabweans to elect their government.
”Needless to say, Mugabe will not accept this, but he must not be given a choice,” Zille said. ”The time has come for the choice to be made by the voters of Zimbabwe. The time has come for the AU and SADC [Southern African Development Community] to show the world that we can be trusted with democracy.”
‘Withdrawing will not solve anything’
Meanwhile, the MDC vowed on Friday to press ahead with its campaign for next week’s presidential run-off despite mounting violence, saying ”withdrawing will not solve anything”.
”The people have been subjected to violence and intimidation which are so blatant and they are disappointed that we are not having access to the electorate,” said Innocent Gonese, the party’s secretary for legal affairs.
”People are saying despite all that we should not withdraw and we also believe withdrawing will not solve anything.”
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday issued a message to supporters, urging them to vote to end Mugabe’s ”evil” regime.
”If we fall into despair or disarray, my friends, the regime will have succeeded in its evil machinations to divide and discourage us,” he said in the message.
Tsvangirai is only participating in the June 27 run-off under protest since he claims he won an outright majority in the March 29 first-round vote.
Official results showed he beat Mugabe, but with a vote total just short of the 50% threshold.
The comments from Tsvangirai and Gonese came as a spokesperson for their party reportedly questioned why the MDC should contest the run-off when Mugabe has signalled he will not give up power if he loses.
Referring to recent comments from Mugabe that he was prepared to fight to keep the opposition from coming to power, MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told the Star: ”What therefore is the point of this election?”
”Why should we participate in it? Many of our members are now wondering and want us to pull out.”
The MDC claims some 70 of its supporters have been killed in a campaign of intimidation following the first round of the election. – I-Net Bridge, Reuters