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SACP: Zim poll seriously flawed
31/03/2005 18:47 - (SA)
Cape Town - Zimbabwe's elections are seriously flawed, the South African Communist Party said again on Thursday.
"As Zimbabweans finish going to the polls today (Thursday), the situation is poised on a potential knife-edge, to a degree that is perhaps not fully appreciated," the party said in a statement.
"The danger lies not in today's actual poll, but in what the coming days and weeks may produce.
"The election has been seriously flawed in ways that have been well-recorded, including the persistence of repressive legislation, a voters' roll that is seriously inaccurate and inaccessible, the preceding repression and closure of media, the abuse of food aid, and a constant undertow of harassment and repression."
On the other hand, by common consent, the levels of violence had greatly diminished in comparison to 2000 and 2002 and opposition formations had been able to hold meetings and rallies, some of them quite large, the SACP said.
New beginning far from assured
This relative improvement was to be welcomed and, beyond election day, it might portend a new beginning.
What Zimbabwe required was an expanding democracy and deepening tolerance, the precondition for an intra-Zimbabwean dialogue as a step towards addressing the all-round social and economic crisis afflicting that country.
However, this new beginning was far from assured.
The SACP called on Zanu-PF, the MDC and all other key social and political forces to remain committed to ongoing democratisation and national dialogue, and to appreciate that tide of public opinion in South Africa was shifting more and more against their reckless obduracy.
"We call on all progressive forces in Zimbabwe, whatever their political affiliation, including the trade union movement, to focus on building popular power around mobilisation not for short-term political gains, but for real social and economic transformation," the SACP said.
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