Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005
Encyclopedia
A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe
on March 31, 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly
. All of the 120 elected seats in the 150-seat House of Assembly were up for election. (In addition, there were 20 members appointed by the President and ten elected by the traditional chiefs, who mostly support the government. Electoral colleges for the election of 10 chiefs to the parliament were to be held on April 8.)
The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
party (ZANU-PF) of President Robert Mugabe
won the elections with an increased majority against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZANU-PF won 78 seats to the MDC's 41, with one independent. (In the 2000 election, the ZANU-PF won 62 seats to the MDC's 57). According to the Zimbabwe Election Commission, ZANU-PF polled nearly 60% of the vote, an increase of 11% over the 2000 results. The MDC's vote fell 9 percent to 39 percent. As a result of the election, ZANU-PF had a two-thirds majority in the legislature, allowing the government to change the Constitution.
As the results became clear the MDC denounced what it called "the sham elections," which it said had been marked by massive electoral fraud. "The elections cannot be judged to be free and fair," an MDC statement said. "The distorted nature of the pre-election playing field and the failure to address core democratic deficits precluded a free and fair election." The MDC claimed it would have won 90 seats if the vote had been free and fair.
A detailed account of the MDC's allegations of electoral fraud can be seen at the MDC website. Sokwanele
, a Zimbabwean underground pro-democracy movement, also released a report entitled “What happened on Thursday night”. Their report focuses specifically on the time after voting until results were announced.
Full constituency results of the elections can be seen at Adam Carr's Electoral Archive and at Results of the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005
.
and Bulawayo
, where civil society
organisations are relatively strong and able to prevent electoral manipulation. The MDC also won a majority of seats in the southern region of Matabeleland
, where the Ndebele
people, once supporters of Joshua Nkomo
's ZAPU, continue to oppose the Shona
-dominated ZANU-PF. But in rural Mashonaland
, in central and northern Zimbabwe, where the majority of the population lives, ZANU-PF won all but one seat.
In some notable local results, Emmerson Mnangagwa
, speaker of the previous parliament, and tipped at one time to succeed Mugabe but recently fallen from grace, lost his seat Kwe-kwe to the MDC's Blessing Chebundo. Jonathan Moyo
, an independent, won the Tsholotsho constituency from the MDC. Another significant loss for the MDC was Chimanimani, contested by Roy Bennett's wife Heather.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which had some 6,000 observers in the 8,000 polling stations, says that some 10% of would-be voters were turned away, either because their names were not on the electoral roll, they did not have the right identity papers, or they were in the wrong constituency.
(SADC) Protocol on Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory (see the Mauritius Watch articles on their archive page)http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/mwatch_archive.html.
The opposition MDC and Jonathan Moyo
have alleged that voters have been threatened with starvation or violence if they fail to support Zanu-PF. http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday11/1831.html http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=qw111061602454B251
No-go areas have been declared in Bindura. http://www.daily-news.co.za/content_pull%5Cart_pull.asp?cat=bre&link=..\articles\2005\03\13\loc_13032005_00113.asp
Zanu-PF candidates have taken over control of grain stocks in Manicaland and Masvingo from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and are vetting beneficiaries. http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=199862
Muchauraya said in Chipinge South, Enock Porusingazi was issuing badges inscribed "Election 2005" to supporters attending his rallies. The badges are then used as a ticket to buy maize.
On March 8 at Betura village, ward 16, more than 2 000 people were denied access to buy grain for allegedly failing to produce the badges. Only 200 people who had attended Zanu-PF rallies over the weekend had the badges and were allowed to buy maize.
The Movement for Democratic Change said in 11 races the winning Zanu-PF candidate got more votes in the official returns than the government's own electoral commission said were cast in those races.
In each case, the MDC said its candidate had an unassailable lead, polling more than half the official total of votes cast. However, the official returns showed 183 000 more votes than the electoral commission said were cast.
MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said the MDC limited its analysis to the 30 seats because the electoral commission refused to release figures for other races, a decision he said "indicates widespread irregularities" in those other areas.
Mdladlana said the elections on Thursday "by and large" conformed to election guidelines adopted by southern African leaders last year for holding a democratic vote.
"Let me congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for holding a peaceful, credible and well-organised election which we feel reflects the will of the people" said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
, the South African cabinet minister that led the 55-member, 11-country observer mission from the Southern African Development Community
.
Mlambo Ngcuka said the observer mission had asked the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to provide evidence to support their claims of discrepancies in 32 of the 120 constituencies.
"We have received complaints and asked for information. We still don't have it. There is not much more we can do." she said.
on February 1. March 31 was a public holiday to enable easier voter participation. The parliament was dissolved on March 30, one day before the elections. http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40304&pubdate=2005-02-02 The voters' roll was closed on February 4. http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40322 Nomination courts sat on February 18 to receive names of those intending to contest in the polls (results).
The voters roll is the cornerstone of "one person – one vote." Attempts to verify this have been extremely difficult to carry out because of obstruction and non-cooperation from the Zimbabwe Registrar General. http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/elec/050123fz.asp?sector=ELEC
The Registrar General refused to release the roll in electronic form, supported by judgments from the Supreme Court, necessitating any analysis to work from a paper copy. Electoral Law is very specific in that the roll must be readily and freely available to any person, however it took two years to obtain such a copy.
In February, South African president Thabo Mbeki
conceded that Zimbabwe's voters roll was defective and needed to be looked at. http://www.allzimbabwe.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1246
Only a single MDC constituency managed to complete the audit ahead of the deadline for objections to the voters' roll - a month before the poll. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20050320105304963C357153
In that constituency, 64 percent of people in one densely populated block in Harare North, are not known at the addresses given on the voters' roll.
Tens of thousands of former workers on white-owned farms were deprived of their votes in the March election. http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/ar/ar_ze_023_2_eng.txt The workers were expelled from their homes on farms along with their employers. Thus they did not have the necessary wad of official documents required to register as voters. In addition, many could not afford to travel to their original farm constituencies to verify their details on voters' rolls. Recently-enacted laws demand that potential voters provide proof of residence before they can register. Rural Zimbabweans either produce letters from their headman or chief or from their farm employer as proof of residence.
Zanu-PF is using claimed interference of Tony Blair
, the British prime minister, and United States president George W. Bush
in Zimbabwean politics, as an election issue. ZANU-PF is also stressing the benefits obtained through its policy of land reform
.
The MDC sees the main issues as being jobs, food, peace, affordable AIDS
drugs and honest, competent emphatic leadership. Their rallying cry is Change!, and their symbol is an open hand.
In accordance with an Act of Parliament:
Polling stations
High Court Judge George Chiweshe, who chairs the recently established Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, stated that 8227 polling stations will be set up in all of the country's 10 provinces - more than double the number used in previous elections. http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1675516,00.html
Harare alone is expected to have 522 polling stations, up from 167 polling stations in the presidential elections.
For the first time since independence from white minority rule in 1980, Zimbabwe will be holding elections on one day as opposed to two. Ballot counting will also take place at individual polling stations and new, translucent ballot boxes will replace wooden ones used in previous elections.
Voting must take place at these polling stations: any Zimbabweans living overseas must therefore have registered to be in the electoral roll by 4 February, and must vote in Zimbabwe. Requirements such as these are not uncommon in democratic countries.
rules http://www.zimonline.co.za/documentfull.asp?ID=9192 in August 2004 governing principles and guidelines on elections; however, no reports on Zimbabwe's compliance have been issued by the body. One of the stipulations is that SADC monitors be invited 90 days before the poll.
By February 4, an SADC team tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that Zimbabwe complies with the regional protocol had yet to receive permission to visit. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050204064042901C914208
Non-government organisations (NGOs), among them Amnesty International
, 32 Nigerian NGOs and 17 from Zimbabwe, have expressed concern about the continued abuses of human rights in the country. African Union
Chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo, has been urged to prevail on Zimbabwe, to fully implement recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), on improving human rights conditions. The Commission made a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe in June 2002, and the Union's findings and recommendations were adopted in January 2005, at its summit in Abuja
.
"The majority of human rights concerns documented by the fact-finding mission in 2002 remain serious problems today," the NGOs said.
On February 19, 2005, 32 nations were invited by President Robert Mugabe to observe the parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe. http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1665002,00.html
Other organisations among those invited are the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Law Society of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
, Affirmative Action Group, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Centre for Peace Initiatives in Southern Africa and the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance.
Aziz Pahad
, deputy foreign minister for South Africa
, said the country has been invited to observe the Zimbabwean poll in at least five different capacities.
It has been invited as a member of SADC, as chair of the organ on politics, defence and security, and as a neighbouring country. The ruling African National Congress
has also been asked to send an observer team, while parliament has set up a multi-party delegation.
Five members of South Africa's governing African National Congress party arrived in Harare on March 10 headed by James Motlatsi, the first foreign observers.
The 20-member South African parliamentary observer mission led by ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe left for Zimbabwe on March 14, and will return to South Africa on April 3. On April 18, the Independent Democrats Member of Parliament and mission member Vincent Gore withdrew, saying that since their arrival in Harare, the mission had been plagued by inefficiency, bad planning "and wasted time". http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1678518,00.html
There is also a South African government delegation, led by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, which arrived March 15. http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=283&fArticleId=2448669
The 50-member SADC observer mission including 10 South African delegates headed by Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
(later Deputy President), spokesperson South African foreign affairs official Nomfanelo Kota, left on March 15. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20050307081547421C601121
The Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU)—a member of the South Africa
n ruling party alliance
— sent a fact-finding mission in October 2004 to talk to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) and research conditions for a fair poll. They were deported from Zimbabwe within hours after police broke up a meeting between them and ZCTU.
On February 2, 2005, a second mission led by Zwelinzima Vavi
, Secretary-General of COSATU, was turned back http://www.finance24.com/Finance/Companies/0,,1518-24_1656338,00.html at Harare
airport, charged under Section 18A of the Immigration Act which relates to prohibited immigrants. In response, George Bizos
, a respected human rights
lawyer, said that all Southern African Development Community
members are allowed to enter Zimbabwe without applying for a visa. http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,97066,00.html
After a meeting the next day between the unions in South Africa
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said "It is quite clear at the moment as things stand that there cannot be free and fair elections".
ZCTU requested that an independent electoral commission be established and international observers be allowed in the country, and the government also needed to scrap strict laws restricting the opposition's access to the media and barring it from holding public rallies and meetings without police permission.
Under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), it is a requirement for organisers of public meetings to first notify the police of the intention to gather. It is an offence, under the same law, for more than five people to meet without notifying the police, who have the prerogative to permit or deny permission to hold public meetings. http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/March/March17/8035.shtml ZTCU suggested that the date of the elections be postponed. ZCTU themselves have been barred from observing the election. http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/March/March17/8014.shtml
Amnesty International
has said that Zanu-PF has used threats and intimidation against opposition supporters ahead of the elections which now cannot be free and fair. http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Shaik_trial/0,,2-7-1708_1676734,00.html
However, on March 15 Zimbabwe's new Electoral Court ruled he could contest parliamentary elections. Nomination would be accepted on April 4, while polling would take place on April 30. An appeal by the government reversed this. The appeal was not contested by the MDC or the Bennetts. They considered that voters would be safer polling on the same day as the rest of the country, where a delay would allow Zanu-PF to concentrate efforts in that district. The MDC has never won a by-election.
Roy Bennett's application for release before the elections, on the basis of good behaviour and dissolution of the parliament that ordered the incarceration, failed. http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday11/1822.html
Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, a former ZANU PF Bulawayo Provincial Information and Publicity Secretary, is co-ordinating the Independent Candidates Solidarity Network. Members are:
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
on March 31, 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly
House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It was the unicameral legislative body from 1989 until late November 2005, when the Senate was re-introduced....
. All of the 120 elected seats in the 150-seat House of Assembly were up for election. (In addition, there were 20 members appointed by the President and ten elected by the traditional chiefs, who mostly support the government. Electoral colleges for the election of 10 chiefs to the parliament were to be held on April 8.)
The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front has been the ruling party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister with the party simply known as ZANU, and then as President from 1988 after taking over ZAPU and retaining the name ZANU-PF...
party (ZANU-PF) of President Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
won the elections with an increased majority against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZANU-PF won 78 seats to the MDC's 41, with one independent. (In the 2000 election, the ZANU-PF won 62 seats to the MDC's 57). According to the Zimbabwe Election Commission, ZANU-PF polled nearly 60% of the vote, an increase of 11% over the 2000 results. The MDC's vote fell 9 percent to 39 percent. As a result of the election, ZANU-PF had a two-thirds majority in the legislature, allowing the government to change the Constitution.
As the results became clear the MDC denounced what it called "the sham elections," which it said had been marked by massive electoral fraud. "The elections cannot be judged to be free and fair," an MDC statement said. "The distorted nature of the pre-election playing field and the failure to address core democratic deficits precluded a free and fair election." The MDC claimed it would have won 90 seats if the vote had been free and fair.
A detailed account of the MDC's allegations of electoral fraud can be seen at the MDC website. Sokwanele
Sokwanele
Sokwanele is a popular protest underground movement based in Zimbabwe. They are pro-democracy, and they embrace supporters of all pro-democratic political parties, civic organizations and institutions. Sokwanele is committed to challenging and confronting - through non-violent activism - the way in...
, a Zimbabwean underground pro-democracy movement, also released a report entitled “What happened on Thursday night”. Their report focuses specifically on the time after voting until results were announced.
Full constituency results of the elections can be seen at Adam Carr's Electoral Archive and at Results of the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005
Results of the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005
-Constituency results:# BUDIRIRO: Gilbert Shoko 17,053; David Makufa 4,886.# CHITUNGWIZA: Fidelis Mhashu 12,024; Brighton Chirongwe 8,126....
.
Results
The results showed the same pattern as in 2000. The MDC won virtually all the seats in the main cities, HarareHarare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
and Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
, where civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
organisations are relatively strong and able to prevent electoral manipulation. The MDC also won a majority of seats in the southern region of Matabeleland
Matabeleland
Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people...
, where the Ndebele
Ndebele people (Zimbabwe)
The Ndebele are a branch of the Zulus who split from King Shaka in the early 1820s under the leadership of Mzilikazi, a former general in Shaka's army....
people, once supporters of Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
's ZAPU, continue to oppose the Shona
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
-dominated ZANU-PF. But in rural Mashonaland
Mashonaland
Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
, in central and northern Zimbabwe, where the majority of the population lives, ZANU-PF won all but one seat.
In some notable local results, Emmerson Mnangagwa
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who has been Minister of Defense since February 2009. He was previously Minister of State Security from 1982 to 1988, then Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs until 2000; he was Speaker of Parliament from July 2000 to 2005 and...
, speaker of the previous parliament, and tipped at one time to succeed Mugabe but recently fallen from grace, lost his seat Kwe-kwe to the MDC's Blessing Chebundo. Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo is a controversial political figure in Zimbabwe. He was Minister of Information from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a Member of Parliament. He is considered the core architect of AIPPA and POSA....
, an independent, won the Tsholotsho constituency from the MDC. Another significant loss for the MDC was Chimanimani, contested by Roy Bennett's wife Heather.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which had some 6,000 observers in the 8,000 polling stations, says that some 10% of would-be voters were turned away, either because their names were not on the electoral roll, they did not have the right identity papers, or they were in the wrong constituency.
Pre-election
For the 22 weeks leading up to the elections, Sokwanele provides a weekly breakdown of the Zanu-PF government's non-compliance with the Southern African Development CommunitySouthern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
(SADC) Protocol on Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory (see the Mauritius Watch articles on their archive page)http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/mwatch_archive.html.
The opposition MDC and Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo is a controversial political figure in Zimbabwe. He was Minister of Information from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a Member of Parliament. He is considered the core architect of AIPPA and POSA....
have alleged that voters have been threatened with starvation or violence if they fail to support Zanu-PF. http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday11/1831.html http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=qw111061602454B251
No-go areas have been declared in Bindura. http://www.daily-news.co.za/content_pull%5Cart_pull.asp?cat=bre&link=..\articles\2005\03\13\loc_13032005_00113.asp
Zanu-PF candidates have taken over control of grain stocks in Manicaland and Masvingo from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and are vetting beneficiaries. http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=199862
Muchauraya said in Chipinge South, Enock Porusingazi was issuing badges inscribed "Election 2005" to supporters attending his rallies. The badges are then used as a ticket to buy maize.
On March 8 at Betura village, ward 16, more than 2 000 people were denied access to buy grain for allegedly failing to produce the badges. Only 200 people who had attended Zanu-PF rallies over the weekend had the badges and were allowed to buy maize.
Vote-counting
Zimbabwe's main opposition party said an investigation indicates massive electoral fraud in at least 30 seats won by the ruling Zanu-PF party. http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=200955&area=/zim_elections/zim_news/The Movement for Democratic Change said in 11 races the winning Zanu-PF candidate got more votes in the official returns than the government's own electoral commission said were cast in those races.
In each case, the MDC said its candidate had an unassailable lead, polling more than half the official total of votes cast. However, the official returns showed 183 000 more votes than the electoral commission said were cast.
MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said the MDC limited its analysis to the 30 seats because the electoral commission refused to release figures for other races, a decision he said "indicates widespread irregularities" in those other areas.
Observer mission statements
"It is the view of the mission that the 2005 parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe reflect the free will of the people of Zimbabwe" said South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, who led the South African government observer mission for the elections.Mdladlana said the elections on Thursday "by and large" conformed to election guidelines adopted by southern African leaders last year for holding a democratic vote.
"Let me congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for holding a peaceful, credible and well-organised election which we feel reflects the will of the people" said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician who was Deputy President of South Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was the first woman to hold the position and was the highest ranking woman in the history of South Africa...
, the South African cabinet minister that led the 55-member, 11-country observer mission from the Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
.
Mlambo Ngcuka said the observer mission had asked the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to provide evidence to support their claims of discrepancies in 32 of the 120 constituencies.
"We have received complaints and asked for information. We still don't have it. There is not much more we can do." she said.
Timetable and voters roll
The election date was set by President Robert MugabeRobert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
on February 1. March 31 was a public holiday to enable easier voter participation. The parliament was dissolved on March 30, one day before the elections. http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40304&pubdate=2005-02-02 The voters' roll was closed on February 4. http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40322 Nomination courts sat on February 18 to receive names of those intending to contest in the polls (results).
The voters roll is the cornerstone of "one person – one vote." Attempts to verify this have been extremely difficult to carry out because of obstruction and non-cooperation from the Zimbabwe Registrar General. http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/elec/050123fz.asp?sector=ELEC
The Registrar General refused to release the roll in electronic form, supported by judgments from the Supreme Court, necessitating any analysis to work from a paper copy. Electoral Law is very specific in that the roll must be readily and freely available to any person, however it took two years to obtain such a copy.
In February, South African president Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
conceded that Zimbabwe's voters roll was defective and needed to be looked at. http://www.allzimbabwe.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1246
Only a single MDC constituency managed to complete the audit ahead of the deadline for objections to the voters' roll - a month before the poll. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20050320105304963C357153
In that constituency, 64 percent of people in one densely populated block in Harare North, are not known at the addresses given on the voters' roll.
Tens of thousands of former workers on white-owned farms were deprived of their votes in the March election. http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/ar/ar_ze_023_2_eng.txt The workers were expelled from their homes on farms along with their employers. Thus they did not have the necessary wad of official documents required to register as voters. In addition, many could not afford to travel to their original farm constituencies to verify their details on voters' rolls. Recently-enacted laws demand that potential voters provide proof of residence before they can register. Rural Zimbabweans either produce letters from their headman or chief or from their farm employer as proof of residence.
Participating parties
The main parties participating are:- The Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic FrontZimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic FrontThe Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front has been the ruling party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister with the party simply known as ZANU, and then as President from 1988 after taking over ZAPU and retaining the name ZANU-PF...
. ZANU-PF forms the current government and is led by the Zimbabwean president, Robert MugabeRobert MugabeRobert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
. Both it and the opposition party expect ZANU-PF to end up with the majority of seats in parliament. - The main opposition party is the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan TsvangiraiMorgan TsvangiraiMorgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...
- Zimbabwe African National Union - NdongaZimbabwe African National Union - NdongaZimbabwe African National Union – Ndonga is a small political party in Zimbabwe.The Zimbabwe African National Union was a political party during the struggle for Rhodesia's independence, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union...
- spokesperson Reketai Semwayo - Zimbabwe People's Democratic PartyZimbabwe People's Democratic PartyThe Zimbabwe People's Democratic Party is a political party in Zimbabwe.After the last legislative elections, March 31, 2005, the party remained without parliamentary representation....
- Zimbabwe Youth in AllianceZimbabwe Youth in AllianceThe Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance is a political party in Zimbabwe.After the last legislative elections, 31 March 2005, the party remained without parliamentary representation....
Zanu-PF is using claimed interference of Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, the British prime minister, and United States president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in Zimbabwean politics, as an election issue. ZANU-PF is also stressing the benefits obtained through its policy of land reform
Land reform in Zimbabwe
Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979...
.
The MDC sees the main issues as being jobs, food, peace, affordable AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
drugs and honest, competent emphatic leadership. Their rallying cry is Change!, and their symbol is an open hand.
Background
Voter educationIn accordance with an Act of Parliament:
- The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) controls all voter education.
- They will supply materials for use in voter education.
- Non-Zimbabwean citizens are strictly banned from voter education.
- No foreign funding allowed for voter education, unless donated through ZEC.
- Anyone performing voter education (from approved materials only) must supply full contact details and address, as well as funding sources.
- Fines and imprisonment face transgressors.
Polling stations
High Court Judge George Chiweshe, who chairs the recently established Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, stated that 8227 polling stations will be set up in all of the country's 10 provinces - more than double the number used in previous elections. http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1675516,00.html
Harare alone is expected to have 522 polling stations, up from 167 polling stations in the presidential elections.
For the first time since independence from white minority rule in 1980, Zimbabwe will be holding elections on one day as opposed to two. Ballot counting will also take place at individual polling stations and new, translucent ballot boxes will replace wooden ones used in previous elections.
Voting must take place at these polling stations: any Zimbabweans living overseas must therefore have registered to be in the electoral roll by 4 February, and must vote in Zimbabwe. Requirements such as these are not uncommon in democratic countries.
Foreign observers
Zimbabwe ratified new Southern African Development CommunitySouthern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
rules http://www.zimonline.co.za/documentfull.asp?ID=9192 in August 2004 governing principles and guidelines on elections; however, no reports on Zimbabwe's compliance have been issued by the body. One of the stipulations is that SADC monitors be invited 90 days before the poll.
By February 4, an SADC team tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that Zimbabwe complies with the regional protocol had yet to receive permission to visit. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050204064042901C914208
Non-government organisations (NGOs), among them Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, 32 Nigerian NGOs and 17 from Zimbabwe, have expressed concern about the continued abuses of human rights in the country. African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
Chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo, has been urged to prevail on Zimbabwe, to fully implement recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), on improving human rights conditions. The Commission made a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe in June 2002, and the Union's findings and recommendations were adopted in January 2005, at its summit in Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
.
"The majority of human rights concerns documented by the fact-finding mission in 2002 remain serious problems today," the NGOs said.
On February 19, 2005, 32 nations were invited by President Robert Mugabe to observe the parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe. http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1665002,00.html
- Domestic poll observers require a 'registration fee' of US$17United States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
(in local currency) - approximately the monthly minimum wage.- approved Zimbabwean observers only announced two days before the elections http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw111148596035B225
- International observers (except South Africa) are required to pay US$300, while South African observers pay US$100. Of international observer teams, only South African ones have sufficient personnel and resources to cover rural areas.
Other organisations among those invited are the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Law Society of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is a not for profit human rights organization whose core objective is to foster a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe as well as encourage the growth and strengthening of human rights at all levels of Zimbabwean society through observance of the rule of...
, Affirmative Action Group, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Centre for Peace Initiatives in Southern Africa and the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance.
Aziz Pahad
Aziz Pahad
Aziz Pahad is a South African politician, who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999-2008, he currently serves as an MP for Johannseburg West Highlands.-Education:...
, deputy foreign minister for South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, said the country has been invited to observe the Zimbabwean poll in at least five different capacities.
It has been invited as a member of SADC, as chair of the organ on politics, defence and security, and as a neighbouring country. The ruling African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
has also been asked to send an observer team, while parliament has set up a multi-party delegation.
Five members of South Africa's governing African National Congress party arrived in Harare on March 10 headed by James Motlatsi, the first foreign observers.
The 20-member South African parliamentary observer mission led by ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe left for Zimbabwe on March 14, and will return to South Africa on April 3. On April 18, the Independent Democrats Member of Parliament and mission member Vincent Gore withdrew, saying that since their arrival in Harare, the mission had been plagued by inefficiency, bad planning "and wasted time". http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1678518,00.html
There is also a South African government delegation, led by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, which arrived March 15. http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=283&fArticleId=2448669
The 50-member SADC observer mission including 10 South African delegates headed by Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician who was Deputy President of South Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was the first woman to hold the position and was the highest ranking woman in the history of South Africa...
(later Deputy President), spokesperson South African foreign affairs official Nomfanelo Kota, left on March 15. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20050307081547421C601121
The Congress of South African Trade Unions
Congress of South African Trade Unions
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the biggest of the country’s three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions, altogether organising 1.8 million workers.-Establishment:COSATU was established in...
(COSATU)—a member of the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n ruling party alliance
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
— sent a fact-finding mission in October 2004 to talk to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is the dominant central trade union federation in Zimbabwe. The general secretary of ZCTU is Wellington Chibebe and the president is Lovemore Matombo....
(ZCTU) and research conditions for a fair poll. They were deported from Zimbabwe within hours after police broke up a meeting between them and ZCTU.
On February 2, 2005, a second mission led by Zwelinzima Vavi
Zwelinzima Vavi
Zwelinzima Vavi is General Secretary of Congress of South African Trade Unions , and Vice-Chairperson of the Millennium Labour Council.-Early life:...
, Secretary-General of COSATU, was turned back http://www.finance24.com/Finance/Companies/0,,1518-24_1656338,00.html at Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
airport, charged under Section 18A of the Immigration Act which relates to prohibited immigrants. In response, George Bizos
George Bizos
George Bizos is a distinguished human rights advocate who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa, most notably during the Rivonia Trial.-Early life:...
, a respected human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
lawyer, said that all Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
members are allowed to enter Zimbabwe without applying for a visa. http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,97066,00.html
After a meeting the next day between the unions in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said "It is quite clear at the moment as things stand that there cannot be free and fair elections".
ZCTU requested that an independent electoral commission be established and international observers be allowed in the country, and the government also needed to scrap strict laws restricting the opposition's access to the media and barring it from holding public rallies and meetings without police permission.
Under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), it is a requirement for organisers of public meetings to first notify the police of the intention to gather. It is an offence, under the same law, for more than five people to meet without notifying the police, who have the prerogative to permit or deny permission to hold public meetings. http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/March/March17/8035.shtml ZTCU suggested that the date of the elections be postponed. ZCTU themselves have been barred from observing the election. http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/March/March17/8014.shtml
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
has said that Zanu-PF has used threats and intimidation against opposition supporters ahead of the elections which now cannot be free and fair. http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Shaik_trial/0,,2-7-1708_1676734,00.html
Candidates
Roy Bennett's wife Heather Bennett intended to stand for Chimanimani rural district after the nomination court refused papers filed on behalf of her jailed husband. http://africantears.netfirms.com/roy/ http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1664724,00.htmlHowever, on March 15 Zimbabwe's new Electoral Court ruled he could contest parliamentary elections. Nomination would be accepted on April 4, while polling would take place on April 30. An appeal by the government reversed this. The appeal was not contested by the MDC or the Bennetts. They considered that voters would be safer polling on the same day as the rest of the country, where a delay would allow Zanu-PF to concentrate efforts in that district. The MDC has never won a by-election.
Roy Bennett's application for release before the elections, on the basis of good behaviour and dissolution of the parliament that ordered the incarceration, failed. http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday11/1822.html
Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, a former ZANU PF Bulawayo Provincial Information and Publicity Secretary, is co-ordinating the Independent Candidates Solidarity Network. Members are:
- Margaret DongoMargaret Dongo-Liberation war:In 1975 she left secondary school to cross into Mozambique to join the guerrillas, adopting the chimurenga name of Tichaona Muhondo . She described the ZANLA leader Josiah Tongogara as "principled. He was unwavering in knowing what he was fighting for and could not easily be driven...
(Harare Central) - Former Information Minister Jonathan MoyoJonathan MoyoJonathan Nathaniel Moyo is a controversial political figure in Zimbabwe. He was Minister of Information from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a Member of Parliament. He is considered the core architect of AIPPA and POSA....
(Tsholotsho) http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday11/1829.html- The former information minister registered to run as an independent in the constituency http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4278453.stm after he was excluded from running as the ZANU-PF candidate. The party had decided that a woman should contest the Tsholotsho constituency instead of him, a decision that was linked to Moyo's opposition to Joyce MujuruJoyce MujuruJoice Mujuru is a Zimbabwean politician serving as Vice President of Zimbabwe. She has held this post since December 2004, and is also Vice President of ZANU-PF...
. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4151605.stm He will be facing Musa Ncube-Mathema, the wife of Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema, standing for Zanu-PF. - In the 2000 election, Mtoliki Sibanda of the MDC won with 69% of the vote over Mathema of Zanu-PF. Sibanda will be defending his seat again in 2005.
- The former information minister registered to run as an independent in the constituency http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4278453.stm after he was excluded from running as the ZANU-PF candidate. The party had decided that a woman should contest the Tsholotsho constituency instead of him, a decision that was linked to Moyo's opposition to Joyce Mujuru
- Dunmore Makuwaza (Mbare)
- Tendekai Mswata (St Mary's)
- Fanuel Chiremba (Tafara-Mabvuku)
- Peter Nyoni (Hwange East)
- Charles Mpofu (Bulawayo South)
- Leonard Nkala (Phelandaba/Mpopoma)
- Stars Mathe (Pumula/Luveve)
-
Lloyd Siyoka (Beitbridge)withdrew in favour of Kembo Mohadi of Zanu-PF - Godwin Shiri (Mberengwa East)
External links
- Official election results from the Zimbabwe Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker
- List of candidates
- Official website of ZANU-PF
- Official website of the MDC
- SADC observer mission statement