Zimbabwe "elections"
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exnaderite
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« on: March 17, 2005, 11:52:38 PM »

Legislative "elections" will happen in Zimbabwe on March 31. Of course we'll see that totalitarian sh*thole become even more totalitarian...

Amnesty says fair Zimbabwe poll impossible
15 Mar 2005 23:59:49 GMT

Source: Reuters
 
By Andrew Quinn

JOHANNESBURG, March 16 (Reuters) - Systematic human rights violations by Zimbabwe's government have made free participation in this month's parliamentary election impossible, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

The human rights watchdog, a frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe's government, released a report on Zimbabwe's human rights situation which it said it would present to international observers ahead of the March 31 vote.

"Persistent, long-term and systematic violations of human rights and the government's repeated and deliberate failure to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible means that Zimbabweans are unable to take part in the election process freely and without fear," Kolawole Olaniyan, director of Amnesty's Africa programme, said in a statement.

"The climate and intimidation and harassment in which the elections are planned is a serious matter for international concern."

Mugabe's government has rejected criticism of its human rights record, which it calls part of a propaganda campaign waged by Western powers opposed to its policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to landless blacks.

CRISIS

Political analysts say the election is almost certain to return Mugabe's ZANU-PF party to power, prolonging a political and economic crisis that has ruined the once prosperous southern African country.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) concedes that levels of political violence are lower this year than in past elections, which both the MDC and some international observers have charged were marred with serious irregularities.

But MDC leaders say Zimbabwe's tight media and security laws continue to tilt the political playing field heavily in favour of ZANU-PF.

Amnesty International said it based its assessment on a mission to Zimbabwe in February which found evidence of arbitrary arrest and intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters, manipulation of food supplies for political ends and severe restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression.

It said at least eight MDC candidates including the party's director of elections had been detained this year, while other MDC supporters had been beaten or seen their homes burned.

The state Grain Marketing Board, in charge of distributing Zimbabwe's main staple maize, has continued to manipulate food distribution to disadvantage opposition supporters, Amnesty International said.

"The use of implicit threats and non-violent tactics to intimidate opposition supporters is widespread," Olaniyan said. "Given past acts of reprisal against opposition voters including eviction, assault and denial of food, such tactics create a pervasive climate of fear and threat."

Mugabe -- who has vowed to "bury" the opposition in the vote -- has said ZANU-PF's electoral strength reflects the refusal of most Zimbabweans to accept the MDC, which he calls a stooge of Zimbabwe's Western enemies.

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Bono
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« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2005, 02:41:41 AM »


Mugabe -- who has vowed to "bury" the opposition in the vote -- has said ZANU-PF's electoral strength reflects the refusal of most Zimbabweans to accept the MDC, which he calls a stooge of Zimbabwe's Western enemies.[/i]


Something tells me he will bury them in more then in the vote.
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2952-0-0
exnaderite
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« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2005, 04:31:11 AM »


Mugabe -- who has vowed to "bury" the opposition in the vote -- has said ZANU-PF's electoral strength reflects the refusal of most Zimbabweans to accept the MDC, which he calls a stooge of Zimbabwe's Western enemies.[/i]


Something tells me he will bury them in more then in the vote.
*shudders* I dare not think how.
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KEmperor
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« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2005, 07:58:25 AM »

Hey, Zimbabwe is on the Human Rights committee of the UN, you shouldn't badmouth them.

(Sarcasm, in case you didnt get it)
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2952-0-0
exnaderite
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« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2005, 11:48:36 PM »

3 days until "election" day
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Notre Dame rules!
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« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2005, 11:56:49 PM »

How soon BEFORE thd polls in Zimbabwe close does Jimmy Carter declare the elections "free and fair"
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2952-0-0
exnaderite
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« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2005, 04:28:09 AM »

How soon BEFORE thd polls in Zimbabwe close does Jimmy Carter declare the elections "free and fair"
You are such a troll.
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Notre Dame rules!
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« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2005, 05:43:38 PM »

How soon BEFORE thd polls in Zimbabwe close does Jimmy Carter declare the elections "free and fair"
You are such a troll.



Carter loves autocratic leftist governments, that's fact.  How does stating it make me a troll?

You're such a bore!
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2952-0-0
exnaderite
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« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2005, 11:42:52 PM »
« Edited: March 29, 2005, 11:45:33 PM by Dean »

How soon BEFORE thd polls in Zimbabwe close does Jimmy Carter declare the elections "free and fair"
You are such a troll.
Carter loves autocratic leftist governments, that's fact.  How does stating it make me a troll?

You're such a bore!
Umm...I wouldn't call Mugabe a leftist dictator. Not someone who goes around intimidating the leftist opposition party, promotes taliban religion and bashes gays.
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BRTD
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« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2005, 11:49:43 PM »

and when has Carter spoke out in support of him?

Mugabe has massively cracked down on trade unions recentely by the way.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2005, 03:21:44 AM »

The Unions back the MDC (basically a standard issue Labour/Social Democrat party)
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Notre Dame rules!
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« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2005, 09:37:08 PM »

How soon BEFORE thd polls in Zimbabwe close does Jimmy Carter declare the elections "free and fair"
You are such a troll.
Carter loves autocratic leftist governments, that's fact.  How does stating it make me a troll?

You're such a bore!
Umm...I wouldn't call Mugabe a leftist dictator. Not someone who goes around intimidating the leftist opposition party, promotes taliban religion and bashes gays.




Mugabe took power as a socialist/communist.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, Mugabe rigs the vote so that only he can win, and in the even that he still loses, he jails or murders his opponents.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, he steals farmland from the rightful owners, which ensures that famine and starvation will result.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, he uses nepotism to hand out govt posts, land, and national wealth--at the expense of the people he 'fought' to help.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, he has no use for gays or other so-called  'intellectuals' after he has taken power, since they are a threat to continued rule.  Like other socialist/communist dictators he is antagonistic to any religion, social organization, or trade union  that challenges his personal power.


The reference to Carter is pure sarcasm, since Carter has shown fawning support for such socialist/communist dictators as Hussein, Castro, Kim, and Chavez.
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WMS
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« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2005, 10:49:14 PM »

The Unions back the MDC (basically a standard issue Labour/Social Democrat party)
The extreme left versus the social democratic left is not an uncommon matchup in Africa...
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2952-0-0
exnaderite
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« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2005, 11:42:05 PM »

How soon BEFORE thd polls in Zimbabwe close does Jimmy Carter declare the elections "free and fair"
You are such a troll.
Carter loves autocratic leftist governments, that's fact.  How does stating it make me a troll?

You're such a bore!
Umm...I wouldn't call Mugabe a leftist dictator. Not someone who goes around intimidating the leftist opposition party, promotes taliban religion and bashes gays.




Mugabe took power as a socialist/communist.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, Mugabe rigs the vote so that only he can win, and in the even that he still loses, he jails or murders his opponents.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, he steals farmland from the rightful owners, which ensures that famine and starvation will result.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, he uses nepotism to hand out govt posts, land, and national wealth--at the expense of the people he 'fought' to help.  Like other socialist/communist dictators, he has no use for gays or other so-called  'intellectuals' after he has taken power, since they are a threat to continued rule.  Like other socialist/communist dictators he is antagonistic to any religion, social organization, or trade union  that challenges his personal power.


The reference to Carter is pure sarcasm, since Carter has shown fawning support for such socialist/communist dictators as Hussein, Castro, Kim, and Chavez.
You should read "Animal Farm". Then you know what I mean.
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2952-0-0
exnaderite
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« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2005, 05:41:59 AM »

And the opposition is holding seats (no, not an April Fools joke)

http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=topNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=8057583
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Colin
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« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2005, 11:10:02 AM »


Well I knew that that would happen. The MDC has won seats for the entire time they have been in exsistance. Mugabe has probably realized by now that having a movement that large with such great support not win any seats would make his grip on power decline by alot since the MDC and supporters would be more apt to take power in other, non-Democratic so to speak, ways.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2005, 11:26:14 AM »

Wait til the rural (non-Matable o/c) results come in... sad fact is it is much easier to commit fraud sucessfully in rural areas and usually much easier to bribe and/or intimidate rural voters than urban ones... especially when in some places you have to show a ZANU-PF card to get any food...

In one constituency, it was initially announced that over 40,000 people had voted. It's now down to something like 20,000... fraud is so much easier when you control the entire electoral system and count the votes...
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Silent Hunter
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« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2005, 11:35:38 AM »

And they're now saying ZANU-PF have won a majority. No surprise there then.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2005, 11:49:47 AM »

And they're now saying ZANU-PF have won a majority. No surprise there then.

All the results haven't been declared yet... and ZANU-PF is currently behind in seats... tells ya something don't it? No such thing as democracy in non-matable rural areas...
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #19 on: April 01, 2005, 11:51:55 AM »

It's currently 31/28 to MDC with 61 to declare. Some good news: it looks as though the Speaker has been shock defeated by an MDC candidate.
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Democratic Hawk
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« Reply #20 on: April 01, 2005, 12:36:10 PM »

Is there an urban/rural split between MDC and ZANU-PF?

It's just that if urban seats, like in Harare, are declaring first, it probably explains why the MDC is leading, while the undeclared seats may be predominantly rural and 'favour' (I use this term loosely bearing in mind foul play) Mugabe?

Dave
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BRTD
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« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2005, 12:40:49 PM »

Mugabe gets to appoint 20 seats, so even if the MDC wins a "slight" victory (probably not as slight as it would be), he still retains control. Hopefully the African Union will put pressure like they did in Togo. and a Ukraine type situation could occur.

I wonder who Ian Smith is voting for. Are there no white parties?
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Democratic Hawk
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« Reply #22 on: April 01, 2005, 12:52:06 PM »

Mugabe gets to appoint 20 seats, so even if the MDC wins a "slight" victory (probably not as slight as it would be), he still retains control. Hopefully the African Union will put pressure like they did in Togo. and a Ukraine type situation could occur.

I wonder who Ian Smith is voting for. Are there no white parties?

So in effect he has a 20 seat headstart before a vote's even been cast
- that's fair (NOT)!

Dave
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Colin
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« Reply #23 on: April 01, 2005, 12:57:48 PM »

Is there an urban/rural split between MDC and ZANU-PF?


Well MDC does better in urban areas while ZANU-PF does better in rural areas, although the ZANU-PF numbers are probably highly inflated in the rural areas due to rampant ballot box stuffing and election fraud in rural areas.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #24 on: April 01, 2005, 03:37:03 PM »

Current totals: ZANU-PF 40, MDC 32, Undeclared 48

It's actually 30 seats appointed by Mugabe...
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