The good news is that one of the regime’s water canons has broken down on Samora Machel Avenue.

The bad news is their fighter planes are buzzing Mutare.

I’ve just received this message from a student . . .

Some jet fighters are flying so low here in Mutare. Do you have any idea what is going on? We are so frightened.

As we approach Zimbabwe’s 29 March elections Phillip Pasirayi poses some fundamental questions:

“You can vote for them [MDC] but that will be a wasted vote. You will be cheating yourself as there is no way we can allow them to rule this country. The MDC will not rule this country. It will never ever happen.”
- President Robert Mugabe, March 2008

We will be naive to still think that the impending Saturday election in Zimbabwe will be free and fair and in conformity with the SADC Guidelines governing democratic elections to which Zimbabwe is a State Party. The above epigraph from the octogenarian Mugabe means that the election is already fixed and that Mugabe’s surrogates at the so-called National Command Centre will announce Mugabe as the winner. It is time that pro-democracy and civic groups start preparing for civil disobedience and demand the restoration of their vote. The civic movement must increase pressure that will make it difficult for Mugabe to govern and prepare the ground for referral of the Zimbabwe case to the UN Security Council. Already the humanitarian catastrophe in Zimbabwe warrants Zimbabwe’s referral to the UN and this flawed election presents a unique opportunity that must act as a precipitant for UN intervention.

Zimbabweans have been through a number of rigged elections and stolen votes. Each time we’ve seen a complete lack of leadership from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) when the results have been announced.

Will the MDC’s response to this election be any different?

This entry was posted on March 27th, 2008 at 3:04 pm by Bev Clark and is filed under Elections 2008, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.