Zimbabwe: Levelling the playing fields?

SOKWANELE
Enough is Enough
Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY
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Sokwanele comment
07 April 2004

That the ruling ZANU PF party won the crucial by-election in Zengeza occasioned no surprise at all to those who had witnessed the violence, intimidation, vote-buying and other serious irregularities that occurred in the constituency, both in the run-up the election and while it was in progress. “The results of the Zengeza by-election do not surprise us in view of the gross intimidation, violence and the callous murder of our member”, commented the MDC spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi. The murder he was referring to involved the shooting of a youth at the home of the opposition MDC candidate, James Makore. Another youth was shot in the leg and ten others were injured in the same incident during an armed attack by ruling party supporters.
Against such a background of bloody violence the reference by many reporters to the need to “level the playing fields” between the ruling party and the opposition is surely a misnomer. Playing fields suggest a game in progress, and that between players who accept that the game is to proceed according to certain well defined rules. What we have in Zimbabwe today should rather be called be called the killing fields.
The violence, the vote-buying, the heavy intimidation (even by the police and other so-called law enforcement agents) and the gross irregularities that accompanied the electoral process have been chronicled elsewhere. State agents did their best to limit the observance of the process by any independent agents, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) only being allowed to deploy half the independent poll observers they wanted. Nevertheless enough was seen by those who are non-partisan to establish the fact that the electoral process was hopelessly flawed – many would say, rotten to the core. Dr Reginald Matchaba-Hove, the head of ZESN, said that observers had reported irregularities and intimidation across the district. Of particular concern was the fact that law enforcement agents were mentioned among the perpetrators of violence. And in a press release that is unusually sharp and specific on details, the United States Department of State commented “We condemn the violence, intimidation and irregularities that occurred prior to and during the March 27-28 Zengeza parliamentary by-election. The election’s improprieties preclude it from being deemed free and fair”. The statement continues “The by-election should have been a routine and peaceful expression of a local constituency’s political will. Instead, it became another symbol of the ruling party’s pursuit of electoral victories at the expense of the peaceful expression of democratic rights in Zimbabwe”.
Given that the by-election took place against this violent and threatening background and that the official result cannot be taken in any way to represent the wishes of the electorate, nevertheless it is still worth considering the voting figures carefully because they tell an interesting story. In the General Election of 2000 the MDC romped home to victory in this constituency with almost three times the number of votes cast for ZANU PF The figures were 14,814 for the MDC candidate (who has since fled to the UK fearing for his life) and
5,330 for the ruling party. In the recent by-election the official figures give the MDC 6,706 votes against 8,447 for ZANU PF. For MDC a majority of 9,484 has become a deficit of 1,741. Both the votes cast for each party and the aggregate of votes are significant.
First, the aggregate of votes for both parties. In the 2000 poll it was 20,144 ballots. In the 2004 poll, 15,153. In other words a quarter less voters cast their ballot in this poll than in the previous one. According to a statement issued on ZBC, 32 per cent of registered voters voted in the recent by-election, against 46 per cent in the General election of 2000. Whichever way one looks at the figures there has been a sharp drop in the number, and percentage, of voters turning out to vote, and this in a by-election which was of crucial importance to both parties. The obvious question is why voters are staying away from the poll in increasing numbers when the stakes have actually been increased. Many answers are possible of course – and we cannot interrogate those who chose not to vote – but surely the most obvious and likely answer is fear, and not just a general fear of a difficult situation, but specifically fear of the consequences of daring to vote for the opposition. Those who were minded to vote for the ruling party had little or nothing to fear; indeed every inducement. But those who wished to vote for the MDC had a barrage of obstacles to overcome, and it is fair to say that only the most resolute and courageous would have made it all the way to the polling stations to cast their ballots as their consciences led them. Hence the dramatic fall in the number of votes cast for the MDC (8,108) accompanied by the very much smaller increase in the number voting for ZANU PF (3,117). It is speculative of course but nonetheless a reasonable conclusion to draw that the missing voters in the 2004 poll were mostly MDC supporters – and the reason for their conspicuous absence is not far to seek. Fear of the consequences over-rode their desire to vote for the party that was attracting a huge degree of violence.
But if this so it is all the more remarkable that, against all these odds, 6,706 voters still had the determination and the courage to vote for the MDC candidate. Given the violence that was being meted out to the opposition on a daily basis, the massive intimidation that was taking place due to the menacing presence of the youth militia, police and security forces throughout the constituency, and the blatant vote-buying that was going on – not to mention the huge irregularities in the electoral process itself – given all this, the fact that 6,706 voters still dared to vote for the opposition is nothing less than a miracle. And this is surely the true measure of Zimbabweans’ grit, and a clear sign to those who would ride roughshod over the will of the people, that the present brutal dictatorship will not last forever. Democracy will come to this land eventually through the sheer determination of the people, and their willingness to suffer if necessary in the process.
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