24 June 2008
Mugabe Regime Prepares to Force Vote in Sham Zimbabwe Election
U.S. ambassador deplores continuing violence, welcomes U.N. statement
Washington -- Zimbabwe’s ruling party intends to force people to vote in the June 27 presidential runoff where incumbent President Robert Mugabe will be the only candidate, the U.S. ambassador in Harare said, adding that the violence against the political opposition “has not abated” despite opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai’s decision not to contest the election.
Speaking in a conference call from Harare on June 24, Ambassador James McGee said Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) “continues in full campaign mode” despite Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai’s decision to withdraw after weeks of violent attacks and intimidation against MDC supporters.
“We’ve received reports that ZANU will force people to vote on Friday and also take action against those who refuse to vote. So, they’re saying ‘we want an election at all costs. We want to validate Mr. Mugabe’s victory here,’” McGee said.
“There’s really nothing that we can do here in the international community to stop these elections,” McGee said, adding that Zimbabwe’s electoral commission has said the June 27 vote will go forward “no matter what.” The ambassador urged the 500 international election monitors on the ground from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to remain in the country and report what they can on the June 27 vote.
“Many of them have already been out in the countryside and many of them have already started to report on the intimidation and violence that they have witnessed out there,” McGee said. “So we’re hoping that these people will stay in the country and at least provide … eyes on the ground for the people of Zimbabwe.”
Tsvangirai remains at the Dutch Embassy in Harare. McGee said his Dutch counterpart informed him that the Mugabe regime had given assurances it would not raid the embassy and that Tsvangirai is secure and free to leave the country. However, the ambassador said, the Zimbabwean government still holds Tsvangirai’s passport.
Zimbabwean police conducted a raid on the MDC headquarters in Harare on June 23 where 2,000 internally displaced persons had fled. Although most escaped, McGee said, 30 were detained. “We have no idea where these folks are right now. They may be in a prison outside of the city … [or] dropped off in fields along the roadside outside the city,” he said. The United States is trying to find ways to move MDC supporters outside the city where international organizations can provide them with food and shelter, he added.
“I think that these people will continue to be harassed by the police,” McGee said.
The ambassador welcomed a June 23 statement by the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Zimbabwe as “a very clear voice from the international community.” The statement condemned the Mugabe regime for preventing its political opponents from campaigning or assembling freely and for using tactics of violence and intimidation.
The U.N. statement said “the campaign of violence and the restrictions on the political opposition have made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place on 27 June,” adding that “to be legitimate, any government of Zimbabwe must take account of the interests of all its citizens.”
McGee called on Zimbabwe’s neighbors in the Southern Africa Development Community to issue a clear statement that is “as firm and as hard hitting” as the United Nations document and that states “this is an illegitimate regime that’s conducting an illegitimate election.”
McGee said African regional organizations such as the SADC have a much greater influence over Zimbabwe than do international bodies like the United Nations. He said the country is landlocked and pressure tactics such as border closings and isolation from its neighbors would have a “tremendous and immediate impact.” But he acknowledged he had no indication Zimbabwe’s neighbors were prepared to take such action.
The SADC, including South Africa, should “take the lead and condemn this government, number one for the violence and number two for the lack of political space that would have allowed Mr. Tsvangirai to conduct an election campaign,” McGee said.
