ACDP ASKS HOW MANY HANDS & FEET MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN CHOPPED OFF IN ZIMBABWE IF GOVERNMENT HAD KEPT T

The MDC decision to pull out of the June 27th election in Zimbabwe speaks of a people and a party committed to a democratic outcome against all odds!  Elections are our game…we do not want to take to the streets or to pick up weapons to make our point…we are democrats they have said.
When the MDC won the March 29 election, 73 per cent of the population voted against Mugabe who ignored the facts and prepared for a run-off election.  The intensified nation wide campaign of violence and intimidation, the closing down of all democratic space inside Zimbabwe, further restrictions on the media and the complete militarisation of the functions of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, have once again totally put paid to any possibility of a free of fair election.
Watching SADC states standing by seemingly helpless was quite unbelievable.   The Honorable deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sue van der Merwe, promised in this house that the South African government would watch closely for signs of violence and abuse and would respond if necessary.  Hon Minister do you know how many deaths, abductions and other horrors like chopping off of hands and feet, may have been averted if the South African government had taken it’s head out of the sand. 
Calls for the Security Council to meet urgently to discuss Zimbabwe, the UN Secretary General being more vocal, the new consensus emerging within SADC as Angola, Swaziland and the ANC, if not government, become new critics, and today’s SADC meeting on Zimbabwe are promising and we hope will bring some action.
The obvious need now is for the formation of a transitional government that will include all Parties to take the country through a period of stabilization and recovery before holding new elections. This can, however, hold no place for Mugabe who has shown himself to be the cruel enemy of his people and has disqualified himself in every possible way.

For further information contact:

Cheryllyn Dudley, MP and Whip
ACDP Parliament

082 890 65 20