I’m seeing election posters coming down as quickly as they were put up. May the force be with poster removers!

Photo: Jamie McLaren

I have met with the chair of the AU observer mission, former Nigerian President Obasanjo, head of the SADC observer mission, Minister Mmembe and I have given a diplomatic briefing. The message we have given is that this is not a credible election. It does not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.

For the above reasons, the election has been heavily manipulated. In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate. But more importantly, the shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis.

We therefore call for SADC and the AU audit teams to look into this process, in particular the voters roll, the ballots and the manner in which the whole process was conducted. In our view this election does not meet the SADC, AU and international standards for a credible, legitimate, free and fair election.

- President Morgan Tsvangirai’s Press Briefing on Elections

Photo: Jamie McLaren

Getting feedback like this is what makes me love what I do:

Nothing feels more refreshing than dipping your pinkie in that tub of red ink. I have done it three times in the last five years and (boast about it) and every time I enter the booth, I feel like taking a leak. As odd as that sounds, the notion of representational democracy does have that effect on me. It takes me back to the words the rulers of Aragon (in Spain and not a Tolkein-esque creation) who made an oath when crowning a king. It so went “You, who is no better than us; who are no better than you – make you king to us, to govern by our rules and to live by our law and if not, then NO”.

I liked the anarchic vibe of the oath and believe it can be applied to Zimbabwe. You cannot die wielding supreme executive power because you and a few people around you want things that way. You are not better than anyone!

Anyone who so fills your shoes cannot make the same notion fit their fancies, they are no better than you and the rest of us are no better because we are all human who thrive to satisfy basic needs and wants just as a leader wants.

I left the booth knowing the decision I had made was right, regardless if any cameras were watching me. They are machines without soul and without mind; all they do is watch!

I carried out what is now my tradition – smoke the only cigarette until the next polls and take a tour of every polling station in my constituency. The same vibe echoed throughout the HW, only just until I reached one JOMIC – monitored polling station. As I walked toward the queue to greet a friend, a policeman halted me and told me “We do not want loiterers here. Go away!”

Did my red-pinkie sell me out?

Was this what representational democracy had come to?

I trotted off, the little pig I was, greedy and trying hard to play in the mud that I was disillusioned to. Just another Zimbabwean Election with words hovering around it (rig, watershed and harmonised are firm favourites!) and at that precise moment, like a small cartoon pig that got knocked on the head by a wolf’s knobkerrie, butterflies hovered around my head.

Sad as I was, I got to the shop and bought a box of cigarettes to smoke the next hour, day, week away. “Observation is no crime”. I wondered what Fela Kuti would say if he were ever to be an Election Observer in Zimbabwe.

Okay so we’ve had some long days and long nights in the run up to this election. How have we kept going? Well, in addition to the camaraderie of friends and cocktails, we’ve also eaten ten zillion Haribo strawbs. All the while we remain pimple free, and Defiant.

From the International Crisis Group:

A return to protracted political crisis, and possibly extensive violence, is likely as Zimbabwe holds elections on 31 July. Conditions for a free and fair vote do not exist.

In its latest briefing, Zimbabwe’s Elections: Mugabe’s Last Stand, the International Crisis Group examines Wednesday’s presidential, parliamentary and local elections. With the voters roll in shambles, security forces unreformed, the media grossly imbalanced, the electoral commission ill-prepared and allegations of rigging pervasive, it is likely they will be so deeply flawed, or the results so sharply contested, that they will usher in an exacerbated crisis.

The briefing’s major findings and recommendations are:

President Robert Mugabe, at 89 years old and with 33 years at the helm, seeks to ensure his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) regains full control of government before embarking on a fraught succession process. Out-manoeuvring both the two rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), ZANU-PF hardliners, supported by the president, secured a Constitutional Court ruling that confirmed the premature election date, shutting down any prospects of necessary reform

MDC formations favoured a later date but had to participate, as a boycott would have been counter-productive. The opposition parties feel they must demonstrate they retain popular support.

ZANU-PF has a strong resource advantage in the campaign. The two MDC formations have struggled to raise money but are relatively well organised. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T believes it can win the presidency but fears the electoral commission is being undermined from within and cannot deliver a free and credible electoral process.

SADC and the African Union (AU), the only outside entities with sufficient standing, self-interest and on-ground presence to have a chance of managing a potentially explosive situation, face severe credibility tests. They must avoid a narrow, technical approach. If the vote is deeply flawed, they should declare it illegitimate and press for a re-run after several months of careful preparation, or, if that is not possible, facilitate negotiation of a compromise acceptable to the major parties. Strong diplomacy will be needed to forestall violence if the presidential contest moves to a run-off in conditions like 2008, or, if President Mugabe loses at any stage, to ensure a smooth transition.

“Five years on from the violence and chaos that the flawed 2008 elections led to, Zimbabwe’s main political actors each retain substantial national support and a claim to exercise primary responsibility for the nation’s future”, says Trevor Maisiri, Crisis Group’s Southern Africa Senior Analyst. “However, they have made little if any genuine progress toward the mutual trust, or at least tolerance, that might enable them to agree on a solution to their political deadlock”.

“Major political institutions, like the European Union, that have indicated they will follow an African lead in these elections will have to make difficult choices in August”, says Piers Pigou, Southern Africa Project Director. “No policy would be free of costs, but a renewed effort to uphold basic standards would stand the best chance eventually to cure Zimbabwe’s dangerous fevers”.

Would you like to read the full report? Use this link to get it all

Source: International Crisis Group