Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe: Dissent and repression (2000-2007) (continued)
One of the consequences was mass emigration, first by skilled Zimbabweans and then in later years by others, with about half a million skilled people leaving the country by mid-2003 and about one-third of Zimbabeans in economic or political exile by the 2005 elections (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292-1293). The white community shrank from about 200 000 in 2000 to 25 000 in March 2005 (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292),
The cycle of opposition strikes and government crackdowns continued through 2003 and demonstrations in June were followed by the arrest of MDC members and Tsvangirai (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1291). Tsvangirai was again arrested in 2004 and he and the MDC Secretary General, Welshman Ncube, were charged with treason (the charges were dropped in August 2005. Columbia Encyclopedia 2005; Encyclopedia of the Nations 2007; Esterhuysen 2004). The repression impacted on the MDC's organisational structures and the party lost a string of by-elections as a result (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292).
The 2005 elections were preceded by a degree of electoral reform, but all the legislation discussed previously remained in force. Aspects that encouraged electoral transparency and impartiality were welcomed, while it was claimed that neither of the laws met the standards laid down in the SADC Principles and Guidelines and the MDC rejected the reforms as inadequate (Tsunga 2005; Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292). The period of the elections was calm and peaceful and incidents of violence and intimidation reported declined markedly on previous elections.
The official results gave ZANU PF 59.59% of the votes and 78 seats (which, together with the nominated seats gave it the two-thirds majority required to unilaterally change the constitution), the MDC 39.52% of the votes with 41 seats; an independent, Jonathan Moyo, won a seat with 0.64% of the vote (for more detail see 2005 House of Assembly results by party). Once more the results were greeted with skepticism and widespread electoral fraud was alleged by civil society actors and the MDC. The MDC resolved to challenge the electoral outcomes in 13 constituencies with the intention of demonstrating the widespread and systematic fraud they believe to have been perpetrated. They also threatened strikes and demonstrations (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292).
Soon after the House of Assembly elections, in May 2005 at the onset of winter, the government launched a campaign to clean up the urban areas by removing illegal housing and business premises (Tibaijuka 2005, 12-13). The effect of this operation was to punish the voters in the MDC urban strongholds for their continued support for the opposition (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292-1293). On page 33 of her July 2005 report the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe, Anna Tibaijuka, gave government figures of 92 460 housing structures demolished affecting 133 534 households and premises of 32 538 business demolished and estimated that 569 685 people lost their homes and that 97 614 people directly lost their livelihoods.
The Senate, which had been abolished in September 1987, was reconstituted in by an August 2005 constitutional amendment (Lodge et al 2002, 435; Amendment 2005; see Senate reconstitution and composition for more information). The body included 50 members elected on a provincial basis in first-past-the-post constituency elections, with each of the ten provinces returning five members and elections were set for 26 November 2005. The MDC divided sharply on regional and ethnic lines on whether to contest or boycott these elections and over time positions hardened so that the two factions virtually constituted two separate parties with different leaderships (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292-1293; Wikipedia 2007). The majority based more heavily in the north rallied around party president Morgan Tsvangirai who argued for a boycott, while a minority, led by party secretary general Welshman Ncube, decided to contest some of the Senate seats (Wikipedia 2007). The elections were easily won by ZANU-PF who took 43 of the 50 seats, but voter turnout was under 20% (see 2005 Senate election national results ).
Severely weakened and deeply divided, the MDC was unable to provide effective opposition to the ZANU-PF government in 2006 and 2007; moreover its supporters were brutalised by years of repression and state terrorism and many of its supporters had been driven abroad. The economic crisis continued to deepen with inflation reaching 1200% and the shortage of foreign exchange resulting in a lack of imported consumption commodities and production inputs of every kind and mass starvation in some rural areas, leading to a renewed flood of emigration, perhaps as many as 4 million in South Africa by 2007 (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1293, 1295; Wikipedia 2007). In June 2007 the government attempted to ameliorate spiraling inflation by ordering all businesses to cut their prices by half, but the measure back-fired as businesses closed and consumption items disappeared from retailers' shelves (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1294).
In March 2007 the central committee of ZANU-PF resolved to harmonise elections in the country and to hold parliamentary elections due in 2010 concurrent with the presidential elections (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1292-1294). In the same month footage was shown in the international media of senior MDC leaders, including Tsvangirai, were severely beaten by police at a prayer rally where an MDC activist killed (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1294; Wikipedia 2007). The images galvanised international action and the United States and the European Union tightened sanctions (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1294; Wikipedia 2007). At an emergency summit of the Southern African Development Community at the end of the month, South African president, Thabo Mbeki, was mandated to mediate between the government and the opposition (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1294; Wikipedia 2007).
Negotiations, begun in mid-2007, managed to achieve agreement on a package of constitutional, electoral and other reforms at securing freedom of speech, assembly and expression, which were passed rapidly and unanimously by the Zimbabwean parliament in December 2007. Reforms included restructuring the composition of the houses of parliament (with the House of Assembly expanded and made wholly elective), the abolition of the delimitations Commission and the transfer of its functions to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), a curtailing of the powers of the security forces and the abolition of many restrictions on the media, on public demonstrations. Negotiations continue, with the MDC demanding that a new constitution be adopted, the elections be delayed beyond March 2008 and that the delimitation of constituencies and registration of voters undertaken by the ZEC be revisited; ZANU-PF wishes to keep to the March date so as to reduce the opportunities for the opposition to reorganise and campaign in the new more open political climate and to ensure that the preparatory work of ZEC done thus far is not subjected to public scrutiny (ZESN 2008).
References
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BROWN, R & SAUNDERS, C 2007 "Zimbabwe: Recent History" IN Frame, I (ed) Africa South of the Sahara 2008, Europa Publications, 1287-1295.
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LODGE, T, KADIMA, D & POTTIE, D (eds) 2002 Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa, EISA, 378.
TIBAIJUKA, AK 2005 Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe, [www] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/zimbabwe_22_07_05.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed Dec 2007).
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