Thabo Mbeki queries vote fairness

By Fungi Kwaramba

HARARE – Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who helped broker Zimbabwe’s fractious coalition government, has questioned the fairness of the July 31 harmonised elections which saw President Robert Mugabe winning by a landslide amid allegations of vote-rigging. 

Ironically, Mbeki was accused by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai of having a soft spot for the 89-year-old Zanu PF leader during the negotiation phase of the government of national unity in 2008.

Mbeki however, said African nations must respect the rights of Zimbabweans to choose their own leader and to allow the country to come up with its own solutions to its problems.

With South African president Jacob Zuma having already declared the Zimbabwe elections free and fair, Mbeki — who was ousted from power by Zuma — told a lecture series at the University of South Africa in Pretoria on Monday night, that although Zimbabweans must determine their destiny, it was crucial to look at concerns raised by the African Union (AU) observer mission to determine the fairness of the vote.

Internationally, discord is growing, with Sadc member states sharply divided while Western countries have condemned Mugabe’s re-election, with some calling for a fresh vote.

With Zuma and Sadc Troika chairman Jakaya Kikwete having congratulated the winner Mugabe, Botswana on Monday called for an independent audit of Zimbabwe’s disputed vote, saying the elections could not be considered acceptably free and fair in the regional southern African community.

Mbeki also joined the growing chorus not to whitewash concerns raised by the AU.

“You have seen the report by the African Union observers that there were problems that must be addressed,” Mbeki said.

“Sadc has said the elections were free and peaceful but we need to look at the number of things to determine the fairness.”

In its preliminary report released last week, the AU raised a litany of concerns with the manner in which the crucial harmonised elections were held. Among issues raised by the AU were the voters’ rolls which were only availed to contestants a day before polls.

Olusegun Obasanjo, the head of the AU observer mission, said on Friday that last Wednesday’s elections were “free, honest and credible”.

The continental election observers said there were “grave concerns” about the voters’ roll and there was “no evidence that copies of the critical voters’ roll were made available to candidates.”

The AU also noted several inconsistencies that made the election fall short of international best practices, such as the over printing of the voters’ roll which were 8,7 million, corresponding to 35 percent above the number of registered voters, and an unusually high number of assisted voters.

The AU observer mission chief said the election was fair and free “from the campaigning point of view”.

Obasanjo acknowledged incidents “that could have been avoided and even tended to have breached the law” but added, “All in all, up to the close of the polls, we do not believe that these incidences (incidents) will amount to the result not representing the will of the people.”

Mbeki agreed with the AU observers’ assessment of the polls, saying however that there was need to “look at a number of things to determine the fairness.”

However, Mbeki said Zimbabweans had a right to choose their leaders.

“The people of Zimbabwe have a right to self determination. They have a right to decide what to do with their country and their future,” Mbeki said.

He added: “There has been a worrying thing about the Zimbabwe elections, which is that there has been a very sustained campaign before the elections to discredit them before they happen. You could see it quite clearly.”

Tsvangirai has denounced the election results as “null and void” and is preparing a dossier of evidence that he claims details how Zanu PF rigged the July 31 elections.

Already the MDC has indicated that it will not participate in the forthcoming government arguing doing so is tantamount to endorsing an illegitimate election. The party has also said it was furnishing the AU and Sadc with evidence of ballot rigging.

Zanu PF is however nonchalant, dismissing the MDC claims of vote-rigging as a case of sour grapes. Zanu PF chairman Simon Khaya-Moyo has said the people of Zimbabwe have spoken loud and clear.

“In Latin they say ‘vox populi, vox dei’ which means that the voice of the people is the voice of God,” Khaya-Moyo said. Daily News