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Election could mean end of MDC
31/03/2005 22:20 - (SA)
Cape Town - There were worrying signs that a two thirds electoral majority could mean the end for Zimbabwe's opposition, SACP deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin warned on Thursday.
"(Zanu-PF might) think about a final solution for the elimination of the opposition... (and) interpret the electoral mandate to do whatever they wish," said Cronin outside the gates of parliament.
He was one of a smattering of protesters who turned up to show solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe on the day of that country's parliamentary elections.
Cronin told Sapa that "ill-considered" utterances, such as those attributed to Zimbabwe's Catholic archbishop Pius Ncube calling for a peaceful uprising against Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, could play into the hands of reactionary forces and also divide the opposition.
The MP said the South African Communist Party's position was that the elections were, in themselves and regardless of the outcome, unlikely to be a solution to the "real crisis" in Zimbabwe.
He said while the party welcomed the relative reduction in pre-election violence, there needed to a recognition that the process was flawed.
Cronin said it was extremely important for all the South African and other observer missions to come up with a fair position, and to be honest in their appraisal of every aspect of the elections.
'Don't want to bankroll corruption'
Anything less could see all kinds of dangers emerge, with Zanu-PF perhaps interpreting a rubber stamping of the elections as a "green light" from the Southern African Development Community region to do as it pleased.
As such, Cronin said it was important to remember that democracy and the entrenchment thereof was a daily reality, and not a once-in-every-four-year event.
Cronin said the South African government also needed to send a strong public message to the people of Zimbabwe, as well as to its own citizens, on the importance of upholding democratic values.
"... That as South Africans we don't want to see chaos in Zimbabwe... but at the same time we don't want to bankroll corruption and oppression [in that country]."
Tony Ehrenreich, Western Cape secretary of labour movement Cosatu, said in order for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and the African Renaissance to succeed, there had to be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
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