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EPWORTH, Zimbabwe – As he voted for voters less than two days before the general elections in Zimbabwe, the opposition candidate worked alone and on foot. He bounced from the elector to the voter, a broad smile on his face, ready for a handshake and a joke.
In previous elections, before Robert G. Mugabe was ousted in November after 37 years in power, opposition candidates were harbaded -PF, the ruling party, and by the police. Their rallies were canceled, the posters torn off and the candidates intimidated, often with violence.
"I did my gatherings, I met people, and there was no disturbance, everything is peaceful," said candidate Batandai Masunda. who was running for president of the main opposition party, the Alliance for Democratic Change. "It's a very big improvement," he added
. The crucial question that Zimbabweans were preparing to vote on Monday was very important, without Mr Mugabe for the first time on the ZANU-PF ticket since independence in 1980. [19659005] Many Zimbabweans say that "no one wants to vote. they expect cheating if the presidential race is very close, or if no presidential candidate wins a simple majority and that there is a second round. ZANU-PF candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly largely orchestrated vote-rigging in the past and carried out crackdowns. After being Mugabe 's right hand man for decades, Mr. Mnangagwa ousted him with the help of the army in November.
At a last-minute press conference at his home Sunday, Mr. Mugabe, 94, said: I can not vote for those who tormented me. He said he would vote for a presidential candidate other than Mr Mnangagwa, stating that he favored Nelson Chamisa, the presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democratic Change.
It is not clear how the comments of Mr. Mugabe, who has not been politically active since his ouster and who is deeply unpopular, could affect the outcome of the election.
Opposition politicians, voters, rights groups and international election observers the first time in decades to observe polls – say the campaign has been much freer than in the past.
At the same time, the ruling party continued to exploit its grip on the security forces, the media and others
Opposition parties and election observers raised questions about the government. integrity of voters lists. And it is far from clear how the vote will take place on polling day, especially in the ruling party's rural strongholds, where widespread electoral fraud has ensured the victory of Mugabe's party in previous votes.
. Mnangagwa tried to re-image Zimbabwe by presenting the government as pro-business. He has often participated in investor conferences, wearing warm and colorful scarves to offset his formidable reputation as a former Mr Mugabe's henchman.
But to revive the economy, it would be useful for Mr. Mnangagwa to lead a fair election. this will satisfy international observers and Western governments enough that Zimbabwe can benefit from loans from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international creditors. "The government needs this transparency for economic reasons," said Elmar Brok, Chief Observer of the European Union. "Is this a way they want to give the impression of a transparent election, or is it a transparent election? This, I think, must be discovered."
Some progress has been made. For the first time, opposition parties were allowed to campaign in previous banned areas. The Alliance for Democratic Change – whose candidate, Mr. Chamisa, succeeded Morgan Tsvangirai, the long-time opposition leader who died in February – organized large rallies in the countryside without major problems, according to election observers
Township to the east of the outskirts of Harare, the capital – had been one of the areas to avoid for the opposition. Neighborhood residents who supported the opposition suffered the consequences of the police and youth supporting the ruling party. [TRADUCTION] "In previous elections, we had to abandon our homes and go to the countryside after being beaten," Loveness said. Shagunda, a supporter of the main opposition party. "After our vote, our houses were set on fire."
Shagunda said she was "happy" with the current peaceful campaign season. She and other residents of an Epworth shopping district said that since the fall of Mr. Mugabe, they felt free to express themselves. Now posters of opposition candidates were posted on the walls and corners of the streets, next to those of ZANU-PF.
But Ms. Shagunda feared that the ruling party would come back to Mr. Mnangagwa and Mr. Chamisa. to his old habits.
On Saturday morning, Ms. Shagunda sits on a bench outside a bar playing museve, Zimbabwean dance music. Young men came in and out with bottles of beer
On the main road winding through the township, people were selling clothes, vegetables, sugar cane stalks, wood, handmade furniture and furniture. other products of the informal economy. Over the past decade,
even the evidence of the tiny formal sector has spoken of the economic collapse of the nation. Inside a booth, Simbarashe Matsungo has traded electronic money, called EcoCash, for US dollars or a parallel currency, the Zimbabwean bond note. Although all currencies are officially worth the same amount, the manipulation of supply fueled the sharp exchange rate fluctuations that benefited politically connected people.
But Mr. Matsungo was in a good mood. The opposition had just held a rally in the area without any incident. "There was no noise," he said
Mark Bondera, who was wearing a Green Bay Packers T-shirt, stopped to talk to a shoe repairman on the train to do his job in front of the bar
. Bondera also enjoyed the newfound political freedom. But at 64, he had been long enough not to let his guard down. In the 2008 elections, he noted, the opposition leader won more votes than Mugabe in the first round, but was forced to withdraw from the second round because of the party's violence. in power.
"he says,
On the other side of a dirt road, at the Cosycare Pharmacy, Brian Chikandiwa, 23, was excited to vote for the first time
"If it is free and fair, there will be change. Chikandiwa, who had just finished his pharmaceutical studies
Due to the history of electoral fraud in Zimbabwe, Mr. Chikandiwa and many other voters said that only an opposition victory would be evidence of a legitimate vote
. For example, Mr. Mnangagwa's government should have redoubled its efforts to persuade Zimbabweans of the fairness of the vote. Instead, there is a widespread badumption of cheating, which increases the risk of violence once the results are announced.
Election officials have not fully satisfied observers and the opposition of the integrity of the role of voters – a problem in a country's history of "extremely deficient voter lists" , said Patrick Merloe, an observer from the National Democratic Institute who operates in Zimbabwe on a joint mission with another non-governmental organization, the International Republican Institute
. they were not constitutionally required to show evidence of how the lists of electors were compiled.
"Things that have been done may be in line with the law but certainly do not provide much confidence," said Tomaszewski. observer at the International Republican Institute
Follow Norimitsu Onishi on Twitter: @onishinyt .
Jeffrey Moyo contributed to the Harare report.
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