It requires considerable talent to suppress the scepticism which ZEC’s shifting, shifty vacillating, implausible and illegitimate excuses for the delay in releasing the presidential results evokes, the respected Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) has concluded.
Only South African President, Thabo Mbeki appears to be sufficiently gifted in this regard. Other SADC leaders had a good attempt, IDASA adds.
The communiqué issued by SADC after an emergency meeting on 13 April, 2008 included the following points: The Summit urged the electoral authorities in Zimbabwe that verification and release of results are expeditiously done in accordance with the due process of law.’
Derek Matyszak, author of IDASA’s report on the Zimbabwe elections, An Inconvenient Truth, suggests this statement was piously made not withstanding the fact that at the time of the pronouncement by SADC the due process of the law’ had already been violated more times than the Sabine women and required release of the results nearly two weeks previously.
The Summit commended the people of Zimbabwe for the peaceful and orderly manner in which they conducted themselves before, during and after the elections.
SADC observers left before the announcement of the results and were not present to witness the vicious retributive campaign unleashed by Zanu (PF) in the rural areas in the wake of their defeat – a campaign which includes multiple assaults, torture, arson and murder, Matyszak stresses.
At the time of writing (16 April) the death toll is currently at four and rising (at the time of going to press it was up to 10). When it has risen to a sufficient level for Mugabe and his military service chiefs to deem the rural electoral terrain suitable and the voter numbers massaged to allow for a presidential run off, ZEC will release the results and a date convenient to Zanu (PF) set for the run off.
Matyszak continues: Having bludgeoned his way to victory, Mugabe will then appoint a few venal MDC MP’s as Ministers. This will help him secure the House of Assembly majority which may need to be obtained by topping up in this fashion, even after ZEC’s unlawful unfinalising of the already declared House of Assembly seats through the recount.
The author concludes: Elected as President and with his parliamentary majority restored, all will be as before the elections – save that with the amount of money printed to administer two electoral periods and buy votes, inflation may reach 500 000% a little earlier than anticipated. Never mind.
This means that the foreign currency accessed by Mugabe and his military cronies from the Reserve Bank at the official rate of 30 000:1 United States dollar, when the black market rate is 60 000 000:1, will seem that much cheaper.
Post published in: News