Fraud Worries

31 March 2008



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Zimbabwe Election Results Reported Slowly

Whenever electoral results come in over a few days rather than a few hours, there is a pretty good chance that the result is phony. Zimbabwe is not a beacon of democracy, and the fact that the election results from Harare are coming in so very slowly suggests that the Mugabe government lost very badly and is trying to steal the election.

Noel Kututwa, chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network, put it gently, “Clearly the delay is fuelling speculation that something might be going on.” The fact that the official results give the dictatorship the same number of votes, more or less, as the opposition suggests that things are even more lopsided. The Mugabe regime is getting its backside kicked and that is why no real results have been reported two days after the polls closed.

Reuters reported, “Two South African members of a regional observer mission said the delay in announcing the election results "underscores the fear that vote-rigging is taking place.” hey refused to sign a positive preliminary report on the poll by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and said there was evidence of ‘widespread and convincing’ MDC wins.

The unofficial results are pretty convincing. MSNBC says, ‘The monitors, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release results, said six Cabinet ministers — among them some leading members of Mugabe's inner circle — had lost their parliament seats. They include Vice President Joyce Mujuru; Didymus Mutasa, minister of state for security and land; Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, and the justice minister.” When cabinet level folks lose their seats, there isn’t a whole lot left to say.

The ritual of voting, however, means little unless the army and police are prepared to back it up. So far the military has been neutral. After the official results are announced, though, things are likely to change. One can expect protests and demonstrations against the regime if the Mugabe camp doesn’t leave quietly, and at that point, violence is inevitable.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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