Zimbabwe before and after the June 2000 elections: an assessment (continued)
A total of 2 556 261 out of 5 298 904 registered voters cast their ballots in the elections - a voter turnout of 48,24%, significantly less than the 57% turnout in the 1995 elections. Generally peaceful polling, with only scattered reports of attacks and intimidation, followed more than four months of political violence characterized by human rights groups as a ZANU PF government-sponsored terror campaign to crush the opposition. The European Union (EU) observer mission was of the opinion that on the whole the pre-election phase had been negative and the actual election had been positive: this now makes the post-election phase crucially important - how Zimbabweans will react to the results, the protection of civil liberties, and the maintenance of law and order. But however positive one might look at the electoral process in Zimbabwe over the past couple of months, sadly the process has to be described as "neither free nor fair".
Nevertheless, despite ZANU PF's terror campaign, the opposition had come desperately close to unseating the governing party. For the total of 120 contested seats, final results gave ZANU PF 62 seats, with the MDC in close pursuit with 57 seats, while the small ZANU-Ndonga party managed to win one seat. In addition, in terms of the provisions of the current constitution of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe (whose six-year term only expires in 2002) has the power to nominate 30 members of parliament (MPs): 10 chiefs, 8 provincial governors, and 12 ordinary MPs. The MDC took all the seats in Harare and Bulawayo, almost the whole of Matabeleland, and some other urban areas throughout the country, reflecting the success of its political slogan: "Change Your Ways"; it is also challenging the results in the Buhera North constituency, where MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost, and in about 20 other constituencies where the party felt the outcome had been influenced by intimidation, or where "electoral irregularities" were apparent. It must have been a huge disappointment for Tsvangirai not to be elected an MP; nevertheless, he can take comfort from the knowledge that his efforts have helped to change the political landscape in Zimbabwe forever.
Conclusion
Clearly, civil society in Zimbabwe, which had become moribund for 20 years, has re-awoken - now there is a new energy and a new purpose. Also, the ruling party has received a wake-up call and the outcome of the elections portends an even more hotly contested race when Mugabe's presidential term comes to an end in two years - Tsvangirai has named the MDC's vice-president, Gibson Sibanda, as leader of the opposition in parliament and indicated that he will challenge Mugabe for the presidency in 2002. The election results will also intensify pressure on Mugabe to retire; the MDC toppled eight of his top cabinet ministers and party officials, weakening his grip on the party and opening up opportunities for a new breed of leaders who have no sentimental attachment to the president because of association with him during the liberation struggle. ZANU PF veterans fell to largely unknown MDC candidates; liberation war heroes were dumped in favour of youthful activists.
The post-liberation struggle "born-frees" and almost "born-frees" opted for the candidates who looked like them and spoke their language of employment and opportunity. Thus the new MDC members of parliament, novices in elective politics but veterans in the politics of protest, are in their late 20s and early 30s. Moreover, they see themselves as victims of Mugabe's brutality and economic mismanagement; and their priority is to take Zimbabwean politics out of the hands of the bush war leadership. Indeed, the triumph of these youthful politicians over their older rivals marks a sea-change in Zimbabwean politics, a point where power leaped from the liberation era to a far younger generation - and they were elected by an increasingly youthful population that knows little and care even less for the sentimentality of the liberation struggle against British colonialism and white minority rule. The only things on their minds are job opportunities and better living standards.
But the big question is: what now? After enjoying unfettered power courtesy of a two-thirds majority in parliament, how will the Mugabe government respond to having to share the political stage with the nine-month-old MDC? At the same time, how will the MDC handle coming off second best and being the junior partner in parliament when it expected to win the elections? Currently, both the MDC and ZANU PF are contemplating their next moves after what can only be described as an electoral earthquake that totally changed the political landscape in Zimbabwe. Early indications are that Mugabe will use this power to try and put more distance between ZANU PF and the MDC in order to extend the government's slim parliamentary majority of just four seats. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that he will use the opportunity to affect national reconciliation and institute a government of national unity. The personality cult built around him and his personality make-up (extreme arrogance and vanity) argues against such an eventuality.
The post-liberation struggle "born-frees" and almost "born-frees" opted for the candidates who looked like them and spoke their language of employment and opportunity. Thus the new MDC members of parliament, novices in elective politics but veterans in the politics of protest, are in their late 20s and early 30s. Moreover, they see themselves as victims of Mugabe's brutality and economic mismanagement; and their priority is to take Zimbabwean politics out of the hands of the bush war leadership. Indeed, the triumph of these youthful politicians over their older rivals marks a sea-change in Zimbabwean politics, a point where power leaped from the liberation era to a far younger generation - and they were elected by an increasingly youthful population that knows little and care even less for the sentimentality of the liberation struggle against British colonialism and white minority rule. The only things on their minds are job opportunities and better living standards.