The official results of the 2013 Presidential Elections have been announced and President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF claimed a landslide victory.
To date, the election process has been peaceful which makes Morgan Tsvangirai’s loss even more difficult. Previous elections were marked with violence and in the face of defeat, Tsvangirai used these acts as a major trump card to cry foul. Suggestions of people being intimidated into voting for Zanu-PF where their vote would have otherwise gone to MDC would be aired in an attempt to nullify the elections.
In 2013, citing violence and intimidation is something that cannot be used and this now leaves the opposition in a position where they have to find another avenue through which to proclaim the elections as a “sham”.
At a press conference over the weekend, Tsvangirai stated the following:
“The fraudulent and stolen election has plunged Zimbabwe into a constitutional, political and economic crisis,”
His concerns included stating the need for fresh elections:
“…… once all remedies have been be exhausted, the people of Zimbabwe should be allowed fresh opportunity to freely, fairly elect a government of their choice. In this regard a credible free and fair, legitimate election must be held as soon as possible.”
(continued below)
In order for their request for fresh elections to be actioned, MDC would have to prove that there were irregularities in the election process. That said, the likely option (since there was no violence) would be to go via the route of technical rigging by Zanu-PF.
Well before the elections took place, there were reports of the ruling party enlisting Israelis to rig the elections and ensure a win for them. The company in question has a presence in not only Zimbabwe but also in other parts of Africa and provides a number of services to governments. One of their services is the provision of an election system that handles and manages voter’s registration and the election process.
In the last day or so, a report surfaced where a spokesperson from a private South African based intelligence organisation alleged to have uncovered election fraud stated the following:
“From our findings so far we are 99.9% convinced that the election was rigged via a ballot paper. A special watermarked ballot was used to give president Mugabe a resounding victory. The ballot had a water X against President Mugabe’s name such that if any ink is placed on the paper the substance on the paper will react and remove the ink and activate the watermarked X into print. If you look at some ballots you would see that Xs are very straight and Identical. These were mixed with ordinary ballot papers in a proportion that would favour Zanu-PF. Therefore I call for the opposition parties and the international community to stage an urgent probe into this scam”
Who is to know which route the MDC will use to fight the election result? They may chose to go the Israeli firm route, the “water X” ballot paper route, both of the aforementioned or via a completely different channel. Which ever way they chose to go, they will need evidence if they are going to convince the powers that be that of the need for fresh elections.
Finding that evidence, convincing the AU, SADC and whoever else needs to be convinced and getting to the point of fresh elections represents quite a challenge for MDC! Question is, do they have what it takes to make it happen?
Whatever the case may be, the votes are in and as it stands, President Mugabe is victorious and is set to sit his seventh term in office.
No comments yet.