This is my first diary. Yesterday lorraine hinted that I should do a diary on Zimbabwe. It seems that having read a few books on Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and having a Zimbabwean sister-in-law makes me an 'expert' on the country. I apologise to anyone who does know something about the subject.
Zimbabwe may have some relevance to American politics. Many people on this site take the view that President Bush is out to increase the power and wealth of himself, his family and his supporters at whatever cost to the American people. The strategy, of self interest against the national interest, is exactly the one President Mugabe of Zimbabwe has followed. It has been taken far further in Zimbabwe than in the United States. The only difference is that a less powerful country can only do major damage to itself, so the international community is less concerned.
There is so much that could be said but the hot news from Zimbabwe is that there is a Parliamentary election tomorrow. I will discuss this further after the fold.
Zimbabwe has two major political parties. The ruling party, led by President Mugabe, is the Zimbabwe African National Union - Popular Front, known as ZANU PF. The opposition is the Movement for Democratic Change known as the MDC.
ZANU PF is strongest amongst the Mashona, who mostly live around the capital Harare. The MDC has had strong support in urban areas (including Harare) and amongst the Matabele who mostly live around the second city of Bulawayo. I do not get the impression that the white Zimbabweans are a major factor now, although some remain politicaly active mostly in the MDC.
Until recent years ZANU PF did not have to worry about elections. It had the prestige of the liberation struggle against the Smith regime and enjoyed political hegemony. The collapse of the economy under the impact of political corruption and a crazy policy of land 'reform' made the MDC a formidable rival. Mugabe then demonstrated that he would stop at nothing to retain power. Interestingly however the ruling party has continued to work within a multi-party election system, preserving the shell of democracy even as it corrupts the essence of the way things work.
There is much more that could be said about the way Zimbabwe is misruled and the comparison with the modern US Republican Party, but perhaps I should provide some evidence instead of just pontificating.
Human Rights Watch. Zimbabwe: Obstacles to Free and Fair elections documented.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/21/zimbab10340.htm
(Extract from the article)
"Human Rights Watch's 35-page paper, "Not a Level Playing Field: Zimbabwe's 2005 Parliamentary Elections," documents cases of political intimidation of opposition parties, their supporters and ordinary citizens by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) and its political allies. The paper also highlights the government's use of repressive laws to restrict the activities of political parties and civil society activists. The paper is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch in several regions of Zimbabwe in December 2004 and February 2005.
"The people of Zimbabwe should go to the polls in an atmosphere free from intimidation," said Kasambala. "The government has denied the opposition, civil society activists and ordinary citizens the right to freely express their opinions."
Human Rights Watch's briefing paper sets out specific cases of intimidation and violations of the right to association, expression and assembly:
A local headmaster in Chipinge South Manicaland described being beaten and accused of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by local ZANU PF youth. On August 2, 2004, several ZANU PF youth came to his school and beat and threatened him in front of fellow teachers and school children. Nine days later, the youth paraded him at a ZANU PF rally and forced him to apologize for being an MDC supporter. Although he reported the case to the police, no arrests were made and he was unable to return to his school, as ZANU PF youth continued to threaten him.
An NGO youth activist in Bulawayo described how Central Intelligence Organization officers arrested him after a youth workshop in late January 2005: "They questioned me and told me that the (ZANU PF) primaries had been poorly attended by the youth and we strongly believe that you are the guys from the MDC who are telling people not to participate. They left me in a room for three hours. Then they put me in an open truck (it was raining) and drove me to Harare Central Police station where I was interrogated again. I was accused of being MDC. They were saying: who are you to mobilize young people?" He was detained overnight in Bulawayo and spent another night in Harare Central Police Station. The police threatened to charge him under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for holding a meeting likely to breach the peace, but later released him without charge.
On January 23, 2005, up to fifty riot police disrupted a private workshop in Bulawayo and arrested and detained an MDC Member of Parliament for Makokoba constituency, Thokozani Khupe, and sixty-two others. They were charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for holding a public meeting without permission. Khupe was detained overnight and then released on bail".
We shall have to see how the election turns out, but the signs are not hopeful.