ZANU-PF WINS PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION AMID LITTLE

UNCLAS HARARE 000513 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR S. HILL NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ASEC ZI SUBJECT: ZANU-PF WINS PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION AMID LITTLE INTEREST REF: A. HARARE 418 ¶B. HARARE 133 ¶1. (SBU) As expected (Ref A),the ruling party won the Zaka East Parliamentary by-election on June 9, after both factions of the MDC boycotted the race. ZANU-PF candidate retired Brigadier General Livingstone Chineka polled 11,162 votes against only 2,376 combined for two smaller parties. Chineka, who is resident in Masvingo, resigned from the Army on May 9th, two days before the nomination court sat. Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) staff told pol assistant that the polling was characterized by a low voter turnout - 27 percent according to observers - and by an unusually high number of assisted voters. ¶2. (SBU) Despite the low turnout and ZANU-PF's wide margin of victory, ZESN field observers witnessed a number of irregularities, including a high number of assisted voters at some polling stations. One ZESN observer reported that an elderly lady, who was assisted by government polling agents, told him that she told the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) officers that she wanted to vote for "any party other than ZANU-PF". According to her, the officers did not follow her instructions. At one polling station 68 out of the 451 voters were assisted to vote. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The MDC boycott all but ensured a ZANU-PF victory, but the participation of two smaller opposition parties gave this by-election a false legitimacy. This is the second by-election in a row (Ref B) won by recently retired military officers. Combined with unconfirmed reports that army officers are working as ZEC officials during elections, this is a further indication of the trend toward militarizing the state. DELL