2008 Articles 25 Dec Kingdom Come 21 Dec Christmas 15 Dec Step Forward 5 Dec Beginning 1 Dec Amendment 30 Nov Facilitation 26 Nov Genocide 24 Nov Running Out 17 Nov Crisis 15 Nov Somalia 12 Nov What Next? 8 Nov Leadership 2 Nov Chipo 1 Nov Rome Burns 29 Oct Failure 25 Oct High Noon 19 Oct Never Easy 10 Oct Abyss 8 Oct Filibustering 4 Oct Chaos in Zim 29 Sept A Mule? 21 Sept On Step 16 Sept The End 12 Sept New Beginning 11 Sept Deal? 6 Sept Consequences 3 Sept Need a Deal 2 Sept Dollar Died 31 Aug Steering 29 Aug Unstuck 23 Aug Betrayed 18 Aug The Devil 13 Aug 13 Aug 08 12 Aug Today 11 Aug Cliffhanger 8 Aug Whats Going On 27 Jul Progress 22 Jul Agree to talk 21 Jul Mbeki kicks 16 Jul Crunch Time 13 Jul Economics 9 Jul Reality Looms 2 Jul Where? 30 Jun Looking Glass 26 Jun Battle 22 Jun What Now? 21 Jun The Commitment 16 Jun Do or Die 13 Jun Morning After 10 Jun Closing Doors 26 May Current Outlook 24 May Fan Club 19 May Tyranny 17 May End Game 15 May Flushing 8 May Violence 6 May Bizarre Process 25 Apr Cornered 20 Apr Electoral Fraud 19 Apr Jesse 17 Apr This Farce 11 Apr The Devil 6 Apr Wounded Buffalo 1 Apr Dying Kick 31 Mar Politcl Tsunami 27 Mar Current Situ. 26 Mar 4 days to go 21 Mar 8 days to go 15 Mar Election Time 27 Feb Games Begin 17 Feb Public Office 11 Feb Choices 4 Feb Decision Time 26 Jan Ambushed 25 Jan The Struggle 20 Jan Truth or Fiction 12 Jan Mugabe Mistake 8 Jan Surprise 2 Jan Kenya Lessons
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The Commitment to Democracy
When I grew up the struggle of the nationalist leadership in what was then
Rhodesia, was most often characterized as a struggle to gain the right to
vote.
The whites had conceded that this was a just cause but wanted the right
restricted to a so-called 'qualified franchise'. This was not a new idea
- Rhodes had proposed that the right to vote belonged to every 'civilized
man' - he even defined that and called for voting rights to be restricted
to those who had property and some education.
The nationalist leadership recognized that a qualified franchise was a
moving
target. The qualifications were not set in stone and were being constantly
revised to limit the number of people who might qualify. They demanded 'one
person, one vote', a universal franchise based only on the age of majority.
This was the accepted standard followed in most mature democracies elsewhere
and was not disputed.
Once that right was gained however, it became a different story. Although
they
went along with the trappings of democracy, in fact most, if not all, newly
independent African States leaders used and abused their adopted political
systems to perpetuate their own rule and in many cases finally simply
abandoned
all pretext and overthrew the system in favor of one that gave them
unbridled
power in perpetuity.
Slowly as these States matured they have turned back to democracy
recognizing
what Churchill had once said that it may not be perfect, but it is better
than
the alternatives. In addition all African States eventually woke up to the
fact
that their liberators often made lousy rulers and that in the hands of such
rulers with unbridled power, the instruments of a modern State with its tax
and
banking system was simply a mechanism for looting on a grand scale.
We have gone through this cycle and since 1980, the ruling elite has shown
less
and less commitment to what they had claimed was the basis of the struggle
for
independence that, after all, brought them to power. This mantra was
probably
most emphatically spelled out this week when Mugabe stated that he would not
be
overthrown by a 'cross on a piece of paper'. At least one editor here said
that he wanted to know why not? As this was the means by which he obtained
power in the first place.
But the Mugabe regimes struggle with democracy has now reached new lows.
They
have held elections on a regular basis since 1980 and each election has
shown
deterioration in their commitment to democratic principles and abuse of the
electoral practice. As the democratic threat has grown so has the
manipulation
and abuse. Initially the SADC and the AU ignored this and it was left to the
more mature democracies of Europe to recognize the malaise and call for
compliance to principle.
South Africa, arguably the most sophisticated State in Africa with solid
leadership and a long history of struggle and commitment to core principles,
has been the most disappointing observer. Not just because she knows better,
but because they alone have the power and leverage to force compliance to
democratic principle by a rogue State like Zimbabwe. South Africa has no
excuses - they have good intelligence, are well informed and run a State
that
is founded on these very same principles.
In 2006 South Africa finally recognized that the only way out of the crisis
in
Zimbabwe was via a process of free and fair elections facilitated by the
region. They committed considerable resources - human and financial and in
terms of their prestige, to the subsequent process. Mbeki in fact used his
influence and power to secure the essentials and when pressed, Mugabe
complied.
The switch in the date of the election from June 2010 to March 2008 was
achieved
without fanfare behind closed doors. Zanu PF participation in the subsequent
negotiations to establish the conditions under which the election would be
held
was also then achieved after direct intervention by South Africa.
In the ensuing negotiations substantial reforms that would have yielded a
free
and fair election in March 2008 were secured over a tortuous 9-month period
and
failure came only at the last minute when Mugabe realized that if the
reforms
were implemented as negotiated in Pretoria, he would lose power in the
ensuing
contest. He simply stonewalled Mbeki and was allowed to hold an election,
which
by any standard was not at all free and fair. Worse, when it became clear
that
Tsvangirai had won outright with more than 50 per cent of the vote (54%),
Mbeki
went along with the subsequent charade and used the impasse to try and play
kingmaker and force the different parties to the conflict to negotiate a
compromise solution that would restrict MDC to a lesser role and protect
elements of Zanu PF.
When this failed South Africa endorsed the decision to call for a run off
and
then failed to ensure that not even the skewed rules of the March election
were
observed. Under the shadow cast by the South African umbrella, Mugabe has
unleashed a campaign of violence and intimidation against the MDC that has
been
ruthless and effective. Instead of condemning the violence and the arbitrary
arrest and detention of MDC leaders, Mbeki has concentrated on using the
violence to justify a belated call to cancel the run off and negotiate a
unity
government.
There is nothing spontaneous about the Zimbabwe campaign of political
violence.
It is a deliberate, State funded, planned and managed program that is
directed
by the top leadership in the regime. They can switch it off at any time. Yet
South Africa refuses to attribute blame or to call for the cessation of
violence and to stop abuse of the judicial system to restrict the capacity
of
the MDC to campaign. There is not a shred of evidence that Mbeki has been
any
stronger or more principled behind closed doors than he has been in public.
But outside South Africa many new voices are at last being heard. The
Presidents
of Botswana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia as well as the Prime Minister of
Kenya
have all said in the past week that the electoral environment in Zimbabwe is
not free and fair. This is an election where the two candidates are by no
means
equal - Tsvangirai is denied access to the media, denied funding, arrested
and
threatened, his campaign team is on the run or in jail, his supporters are
harassed and killed and thousands beaten and worse. ZEC has been transformed
into a military organization that will do whatever is required to return a
majority for Mugabe.
This may not be the only example of the abuse of principle in terms of
democratic practice but it is by a long way the most blatant and reckless.
Even
as this is going on and people inside and outside the country are saying
that
Tsvangirai can never win such a contest, Mugabe is saying, even if he does
win,
Zanu PF will not relinquish power.
Well at least that settles one issue - Mugabe is no democrat, never has been
and never will be. I still believe that the people of Zimbabwe will vote on
the
27th and will, despite all the threats and beatings, return an overwhelming
victory for Morgan Tsvangirai. The question is, then what?
Eddie Cross
Johannesburg, 21st June 2008
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