Statistics of politically motivated violence on the rise: Tsvangirai

The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai said SADC should maintain its position on the expected minimum conditions for a credible poll in Zimbabwe.

Speaking to journalists in the capital, Tsvangirai said “The conditions for a sustainable election in Zimbabwe have been adopted even by SADC as the basic conditions for the holding of a free and fair poll in any country in the region.

He said SADC should insist on adherence to these conditions amid revelations that cases of political violence are on the rise with Chipangano wrecking havoc in most cities.

“A human rights group has recorded the increase of violations from 365 in January 2012 to 413 in February. The group expects these violations to further escalate in the coming months because of election talk that is not accompanied by any talk about the necessary reforms,” said Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai expressed dismay at the comments attributed to Tendai Savanhu of ZANU PF who publicly threatened the elected MP of Marondera Ian Kay.

“It is deplorable that in this day and age, one can threaten an elected MP simply because of his race. It is because of these statements and the violence that continues to rock places such as Mbare that we insist on the right conditions for a credible poll,” he said.

“We urge SADC to keep an eye on developments in Zimbabwe. As a nation, we still await the deployment of the three officials from SADC to join JOMIC to monitor violence in the country and to ensure the implementation of agreed reforms,” he said.

Commenting on the next election, Tsvangirai said “The next election is not about cheap rhetoric, misleading people and firing cheap broadsides at the region and the facilitator simply because one wants to placate the hardliners in their political party.”

“The next election is about respecting the regional efforts and putting in place mechanisms to ensure that we have a credible poll that will usher in a legitimate government,” he said.

Tsvangirai’s statement comes amid revelations that there have been misguided pronouncements about the dates for elections and the holding of a referendum, which he dismissed as a fallacy. He said election dates are process driven and are not determined by a resolution of any organ of a political party.