Britain, South Africa pressure Mugabe over poll reforms

Britain, South Africa pressure Mugabe over poll reforms

ZIMBABWEANS vote in parliamentary elections in March next year

• Herald lies over MDC poll boycott

• MDC threatens poll boycott, withdraws Harare councillors

• 'Zimbabwe compliance the litmus test for SADC protocol on democratic polls' - Ncube

• Electoral reforms to be tested in by-election

• MDC MP Mutasa dies

• Carrot and stick formula for Mugabe

• SADC under pressure on Zim reforms

• Zim to escape SADC censure, again

• Nigeria angrily denies funding MDC

• Zim claims Nigeria funding opposition

• 'Mugabe's compliance the litmus test for SADC protocol on democratic polls'

• 'The gloves are off' - Tsvangirai

• Zanu PF wins Lupane by-election

• Lupane villagers rise aboce tribal rivalry in united hatred of Mugabe

• 64 MDC supporters arrested in clashes

• MDC MPs brutalised

By Manoah Esipisu and Chris Chinaka

BRITAIN and South Africa called jointly on Thursday for Zimbabwe to establish a conducive environment for fair elections next year - after the main opposition party said it would boycott them.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and his South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma highlighted Zimbabwe - a worsening headache for both countries - when they met in Cape Town.

"The ministers agreed on the importance of the forthcoming elections in Zimbabwe," they said in a joint statement.

'It is their democratic right not to be embarrassed'
"They welcomed the recent electoral standards agreed by SADC (the Southern African Development Community) and emphasised in particular the vital importance of establishing a conducive environment for free and fair elections in accordance with the SADC guidelines."

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Wednesday it would not take part in elections until President Robert Mugabe enacted "real" electoral reforms, a move political analysts said would put pressure on Mugabe to deliver on promises for democratic change.

Harare said on Thursday the opposition was simply walking away from the ballot box because it was afraid of losing.

"They have lost the confidence of Zimbabweans and will not win elections," the state-owned Herald newspaper quoted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa as saying.

"It is their democratic right not to be embarrassed and we will not lose sleep over that."

Mugabe has promised early reforms
The MDC has charged Mugabe's government with stealing elections in both 2000 and 2002, and critics say the veteran leader has cracked down on opponents with both draconian laws and political intimidation.

Political analysts say the poll boycott won headlines for the MDC but could increase internal pressure within the party to drop its objections and compete in the parliamentary elections next year rather than leave them clear for Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

Britain - once Zimbabwe's colonial ruler - and South Africa, its neighbour and longtime political ally, urged the MDC and Zanu-PF to resume talks and said new electoral guidelines agreed this month by the 14 SADC members should apply in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe proposed last month a series of reforms which in large part match the SADC guidelines, although his political opponents say they fear they will not be implemented or will be overshadowed by political violence.

The SADC electoral rulebook asks countries to guarantee media freedom and open electioneering, free of police harassment, as well as monitoring of polls by regional - but not Western - observers.

Mugabe has promised early reforms including single-day voting and tabulation of election results at polling stations rather than central locations, and establishing an independent electoral commission, which are also SADC recommendations.

Chinamasa dismissed charges the government was not prepared to enforce the SADC guidelines.

"It's not true that we are not adhering to the guidelines," he said. "Even before the guidelines were adopted we had already initiated moves to reform our electoral system," the Herald quoted him as saying.

Zimbabwe blames its economic problems on Britain, which it says has mobilised Western support against Mugabe because of Mugabe's handing of white-owned farms to landless blacks. - Reuter
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com