“Extensive” Irregularities Reported Ahead of Zimbabwe Elections

State Department expresses pessimism that outcome will reflect popular will

By Stephen Kaufman, Staff Writer

Washington -- Independent organizations are reporting “extensive pre-election irregularities,” ahead of Zimbabwe’s March 29 national vote, prompting concerns from the U.S. State Department that the actions of President Robert Mugabe’s government are precluding chances for a free and fair vote.

In a March 25 statement, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the list of the Mugabe government’s irregularities include inaccurate voter roles, violence and intimidation against political opponents and overproduction of postal ballots that would be used by police, military, diplomats and electoral officials.  He added that there are no independent observers in place to count the postal votes to prevent multiple voting.

McCormack said there are also reports of “inadequate polling stations in urban areas; bias against the opposition in the government-controlled media; … and politicized distribution of government-controlled food, and other benefits and government resources.”

The Mugabe government also has given permission for Zimbabwean police to be present inside the polling stations, McCormack said, an action that breaches an agreement brokered between the government and opposition parties by the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC).

There are 12 political parties competing for parliamentary seats in the March 29 vote and four presidential contenders, including President Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) who has held power since 1980, and his main opposition challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Despite the irregularities, the State Department encouraged the people of Zimbabwe to exercise their democratic right to vote, but called on Zimbabwe’s government and electoral commission to take “concrete actions to address these significant shortcomings, including respecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Zimbabwean people.”

Speaking to reporters March 25, McCormack said the Bush administration is “quite concerned … about how things are unfolding” in Zimbabwe.

“[E]ssentially, what you’re seeing now are all the things one would do if you wanted to, in some way, influence in an extralegal way the outcome of an election.,” he said, adding that “unfortunately, it’s not a new situation” there.

The people of Zimbabwe “certainly deserve” an election that will reflect their will, he said, but when asked for a preliminary assessment of the vote, the spokesman said “the situation doesn’t look promising in that regard.”

James D. McGee

James McGee, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, also urged the people of Zimbabwe to participate in the election despite the conditions surrounding the vote.  In a February 20 statement, he acknowledged that “[p]ast experience may engender skepticism” about the process.  “Democracy cannot flourish” unless citizens educate themselves about their electoral choices and express their preferences in the ballot box, he said.

“While the Zimbabwean people do not have the power alone to ensure that democracy prevails, it will surely not prevail unless they play their part,” McGee said.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ALSO PESSIMISTIC ON ELECTION OUTCOME

The organization Human Rights Watch issued a report March 19 decrying the Mugabe government’s human rights abuses and flawed electoral conditions ahead of the March 29 vote.  The report, All Over Again, said current election conditions have not improved from the past.

“Zimbabwe has a history of elections that fall far short of international and regional standards, and of government-sponsored repression of opposition parties,” the report said in its summary.  “The government has not remedied the serious flaws in the electoral process documented by local and international observers in the 2005 elections.  Instead, the government has been responsible again for similar patterns of violations in the 2008 pre-election campaign period.”

Human Rights Watch concluded that the March 29 vote culminates a “deeply flawed and rushed electoral process, as well as continuing violations of civil and political rights,” and says there is “little chance” that the election will establish democracy in Zimbabwe or end its ongoing political crisis.

For more information, see the State Department statement on the Zimbabwean Elections.

The full text of Human Rights Watch report on Zimbabwe ( http://hrw.org/reports/2008/zimbabwe0308/ ) is available on the organization’s Web site.

(USINFO is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.  Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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