adminPeter Matambanadzo Senior Reporter
WESTERN meddling in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs along with illegal sanctions regimes designed to influence voting patterns will always impact on the fairness of elections, political analysts said yesterday.During hearings on the sanctions law, the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act in September 2001, the then US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Chester Crocker told the US Senate that to separate Zimbabweans from President Mugabe and Zanu-PF they had to make the economy scream; with Crocker’s British counterpart Robin Cook telling then foreign affairs minister Dr Stan Mudenge that what would hit Zimbabwe (by way of sanctions) would make people stone the Zanu-PF leadership in the streets.
Commenting on Sadc’s final report on the harmonised elections that described them as free, peaceful and generally credible, analysts said the West should unconditionally lift the sanctions in line with Sadc’s recommendation.
“Zimbabwe will never be able to hold elections that are fair as long as Britain and its American and EU allies interfere in our national affairs. Non-interference in Zimbabwe’s affairs is a prerequisite of fairness,” political scientist and Zanu-PF Politburo member Professor Jonathan Moyo said.
“Where there is interference through the imposition of illegal sanctions then it is useless to include fairness, and we applaud Sadc for replacing ‘fairness’ with ‘peacefulness.’”
Prof Moyo said Sadc dealt with three things – free, fair and credible – more relevant about elections in Zimbabwe against the background of the 2008 elections.
“It was important for Zimbabwe to hold free, peaceful and credible elections and indeed this is what happened and the report released officially by Sadc confirms that the elections were free, peaceful and credible,” he said.
“The most important questions are these three things – free, fair and credible? Whatever three things you are looking at the most important aspect of these three things is ‘credible’. This is what we must pay attention to. They (Sadc) have said we held credible elections. Why credible? Because the outcome reflects the free will of the people of Zimbabwe. So it’s very important,” he said.
Prof Moyo noted that Sadc also called on Britain and its allies to remove sanctions unconditionally, a position that was also taken by the AU Peace and Security Council at its 392nd meeting recently. “That is also why in the same report Sadc is calling on all political parties in Zimbabwe to speak with one voice against the sanctions and against pirate radio stations, which are sponsored by the countries that have imposed sanctions,” he said.
Prof Moyo said it was clear sanctions had devastated the livelihoods created conditions of unfairness.
“How can the destruction of the economy and the devastation of the livelihoods of ordinary people be a condition for fair elections? Of course not. So at least and at long last Sadc has spoken in the clearest and strongest language about the situation in Zimbabwe and we now all know and the international community now knows that the fairness of elections will only be an issue to examine once the sanctions have been removed,” Prof Moyo said.
Midlands State University lecturer, Dr Nhamo Mhiripiri said there was polarisation in the media as a result of sanctions with pirate radio stations beaming illegally to abet externally driven regime change.
“In terms of coverage of political parties in the media, much adequate coverage on the national broadcaster was limited to other political parties, but on the other hand pirate radio stations did not shut down in accordance with the Global Political Agreement. It was an uneven terrain whether for both, Zanu-PF or MDC-T and MDC,” he said.
Dr Mhiripiri said some pirate radio stations were broadcasting from the US and the Netherlands, the same countries that illegally imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. “They should stop things that interfere with the political terrain for the country,” he said.
Chairperson of the University of Zimbabwe Department of Political Science, Dr Charity Manyeruke concurred saying sanctions work against democracy. “Sanctions are not a good thing they are anti-human rights, they are anti-democracy. They work against freedom of expression and fundamental human rights,” Dr Manyeruke said.
She applauded Sadc for its hard work in promoting democracy and urged the organisation to do the same in other parts of Africa.
Dr Manyeruke said Zimbabweans worked hard against all odds in the harmonised elections, which detractors wanted the process to collapse.
Online Reporter