A People's Victory Is Needed In Zimbabwe

Over the years, economists and political analysts have predicted Zimbabwe's collapse as just around the corner, diagnosing the country like it is a terminally ill patient, but they have been proved wrong time and again as Mugabe's regime refuses to die. The world has watched as the rights of Zimbabweans are trampled on through the election fiasco and public opinion would be with the people of Zimbabwe should they rise up and revolt.

 Zimbabweans might wait forever if they think the solution will come from outside the country. Mugabe has claimed victory in a stolen election process while world governments and regional and international structures are baffled on what do about Zimbabwe.

How Mugabe stole the elections is quite incredible. Zimbabweans proved their respect for the democratic process, peacefully going to the polls in the March parliamentary and presidential elections. The first ominous sign was the painfully slow release of election results whilst authorities paired off reports of Zanu PF defeat in parliamentary seats with the news of a win. Then after a long and tense period, it was announced that there was no clear winner of the presidential election and Zimbabweans would need to go back to the polls for run off elections to elect their leader.

During what seemed like an interminably long time for the election results to be released, the MDC started off well, bolstered by the unofficial tally of returns posted at polling station that put the election outcome strongly in their grasp, they called their supporters onto the streets to claim victory. But the MDC was ill prepared for the violence unleashed on its supporters by the state. There was no strategy for mobilisation of the masses to ensure that the opposition's victory would not be taken away including challenging state forces of the police and army.

So, fear and intimidation won over the sense of injustice that their voices were not heard. Zimbabwe police banned political rallies with immediate effect less than two weeks after the elections amid growing tension over the disputed presidential elections. Shortly after this, a general strike called by the opposition to protest the failure of the Mugabe regime to release the results of the Presidential elections failed and more than 50 opposition supporters were reportedly arrested.

In the period running up to the run off presidential election, a campaign of brutal retribution was unleashed on those that supported the MDC and escalated in rural areas that had historically voted for Mugabe but had turn against him in the March elections. A BBC journalist reported "Anyone who has been actively involved in opposition politics can be assumed to be a target of the sinister gangs which come at night, dragging people from their beds for a savage beating or sometimes worse. Violence escalated to such an extent that MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out and urged his supporters not to go to the polls saying that the process was farce serving only to legitimize Mugabe's reinstatement and far from being free and fair.

There has been widespread international criticism of Mugabe and his government for flouting the will of the people and refusing to step down. Zimbabweans may be disappointed that regional leaders did not put more pressure on Mugabe to recognise defeat or that the policy of quiet diplomacy has not been thrown out. South African President Thabo Mbeki has been criticised for not speaking out against Mugabe, in April he described the Zimbabwe elections as 'normal' rejecting that there was a 'crisis', so it is not unreasonable that critics find questionable his role as mediator of said 'crisis'.

Mugabe defied the will of the international community, choosing not to postpone the run off elections after Tsvangirai pulled out. The result of the presidential run off on June 27 where Mugabe stood in a one man race was never in doubt; there was no delay by the Electoral Commission this time in announcing Mugabe's win and he was sworn into office two days after the election. The very next day, the opportunity for African leaders to reject Mugabe's stolen position was not taken despite some speaking out against Mugabe at the AU Summit in Egypt which Mugabe attended. Botswana Vice President, Mompati Merfahe said Zimbabwe should be excluded from African Union and regional talks. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga also urged the AU to suspend Mr Mugabe until he allowed free and fair elections. This in fact could have been done by enforcing the AU rule not to accept a leader that has not been democratically elected. In the end, the summit settled on a resolution calling for a government of national unity in Zimbabwe and its delegates parroted these words empty of a solution to any journalist willing to give them airtime.

Zanu PF and the MDC are like oil and water so a government of national unity seems far fetched. Tsvangirai spoke against a power sharing deal in an interview with a French broadcaster. "It's almost an elite pact between the leaderships. It doesn't mean anything to the people... We want a transition that is going to work on a new constitution, demilitarise the institutions of Zanu PF, reform them, and then have elections."

The inaction of the international community shows that the battle for Zimbabwe will not be fought outside Zimbabwe. It is this realisation that Zimbabweans must come to, they will have to stand up and fight, they will have to take to the streets to force change and take back their country. Morale of Zimbabweans is at its lowest point but their desire for change that they expressed at the March elections needs to find new expressions of defiance against such tyrannical rule. Such mobilisation may be difficult to engineer but opposition forces should be prepared to give support and structure should spontaneous mass action break out.
 
A people's victory is needed. No one outside Zimbabwe should be able to claim credit for toppling Mugabe's government; victory should go to the long suffering people of Zimbabwe.