Few dare object as Mugabe looks set to tighten grip THE opposition cried victory much too soon in Zimbabwe. Now nothing stands between 89-year-old President Robert Mugabe and another five years in charge, to add to the 33 he has already racked up. In fact, his grip on power may even be strengthening as he waits to be declared the winner of Wednesday’s elections. President Robert Mugabe President Robert Mugabe Key regional neighbours led by South Africa are either backing him or backing off, western critics are more than ready to outsource management of the “Zimbabwe problem” to Africa and foreign investors can expect an even tougher ride over the indigenisation of the economy’s few functioning sectors, led by mining and banking. Dogged and often courageous opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was downcast on Thursday, having previously predicted that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would easily overcome rigging and win outright. He called the presidential, parliamentary and local elections “a huge farce”, and there was plenty of evidence to support that view. An absent voters’ roll, pro-Mugabe security forces and onesided state media were some of the handicaps which crippled the opposition campaign. But that did not stop the two “Fs” being bandied about. “Free and fair” said the heavily compromised Zimbabwe Electoral Commission; the same words were used by a key observer group from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and, more surprisingly, by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, head of the African Union observers. Once the big shots pronounce those two words at African elections — and they usually refer to the incumbent president — it means it is all over. Other African leaders have seldom rocked Mr Mugabe’s boat, partly because of his long struggle against colonial rule. “It looks at this stage like a debacle for the MDC. There will have to be a hard look at what elections mean in this region,” political scientist Brian Raftopoulos said during a brief homecoming visit from his new life at the University of the Western Cape, in Cape Town. Before the election, the European Union said its decision on whether to lift sanctions would be guided by Sadc’s verdict. On Thursday night the EU praised the peaceful vote but said it was still too early to assess its fairness. One option for opposition leaders who are declared the losers when they are 100% sure they were cheated is to send their partisans into the streets. Mr Tsvangirai has refused to do that, knowing that Zimbabwe’s security forces are not only loyal to Mr Mugabe and Zanu (PF) but efficient. Moreover, there is no doubt Mr Mugabe has his supporters. About 200 civilians were killed after the first round of voting in 2008. Mr Tsvangirai pulled out before the second ballot, saying he did not want to waste more lives. Instead, he joined a power-sharing coalition as Mr Mugabe’s junior partner in 2009. Four years later, will the president who turns 90 in February feel obliged to rule again with the MDC? And will Mr Tsvangirai still lead his party after the disaster that has been these elections? Nongovernmental observers were extremely critical of the polls but Mr Mugabe and his party will not lose too much sleep over that. They have run Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980 and have been under western sanctions for a decade. The country is poorer than it was 20 years ago but it is not on its knees. Neighbouring South Africa is a vital pressure valve and a new home to between 1-million and 3-million Zimbabwean migrants. Many are illegal and a source of cheap and often skilled labour for South African industry and business. Analysts reckoned before the polls that President Jacob Zuma’s reported pressure on Mr Mugabe to conduct them properly was mainly to encourage Zimbabwean exiles to return to a better country than the one they left. The outcome of these elections may have the opposite effect, prodding more young Zimbabweans into catching the bus to Johannesburg. Nothing that was said by Mr Mugabe at a press briefing this week was likely to tempt foreign investors from South Africa or elsewhere. He said the government would be more “revolutionary” than before. “People have realised that they had lost their direction and they are back to the revolutionary direction we gave them. The indigenisation policy and the empowerment programme will be the guiding principles,” he said. This was not what business in South Africa wanted to hear.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 08:34:17 +0000
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