CIVIL SOCIETY MORE CRITICAL OF ZIMBABWE SITUATION

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000371 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM ZM MZ SUBJECT: CIVIL SOCIETY MORE CRITICAL OF ZIMBABWE SITUATION REF: A) MAPUTO 325 B) MAPUTO 365 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: At an April 22 roundtable on the Zimbabwean elections organized by the Center of Mozambican and International Studies (CEMO),local academics, press, and NGOs expressed serious concerns regarding SADC's indifference to the post-election situation in Zimbabwe. Throughout the half-day roundtable, the group criticized SADC for declaring the elections "free and fair," spoke out against blaming outsiders for Zimbabwe's problems, urged a protest march to the Zimbabwean High Commission, and pondered whether a similar situation could occur in Mozambique. The roundtable follows closely on the footsteps of an increasingly critical press (refs A, B) and may signal that the impatience and frustration surrounding the elections is trickling down to common Mozambicans. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) At the April 22 roundtable, the South Africa-based Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) strongly refuted SADC's claim that the March 29 elections in Zimbabwe were free and fair. EISA explained to participants that despite being denied accreditation to observe the voting, they conducted mid and short-term observations of the electoral process, two weeks and one week respectively before the election. EISA concluded that the Zimbabwean government had violated several of SADC's 10 guidelines on free and fair elections. For example, the voter registration process was conducted by a government body, accreditations to local observers were issued by the Justice Ministry only two days prior to the election, demarcation of the 210 new constituencies was conducted using criteria generally advantageous to ZANU-PF, and voter registration staff was government employees. EISA also criticized the fact that news bulletins and reports focused solely on ZANU-PF and that members of the police force were allowed inside polling stations (ostensibly to assist the disabled). ¶3. (U) Influential independent journalist and former director of the Mozambican chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa Salamao Moyana urged a break from the "African habit" of blaming external factors for internal problems. He specifically argued that the crisis in Zimbabwe was a Zimbabwean problem that had nothing to do with Great Britain or land issues. He criticized SADC's quiet diplomacy noting that the principle of win-win dialogue should not be applied to an electoral process, where there must be a winner. Moyana noted that SADC was against accession to power by use of force and reminded participants that in the past SADC had sent forces to restore peace in Lesotho after its military attempted to overthrow an elected government. Moyana urged participants to go beyond rhetoric and organize a protest march to the Zimbabwean High Commission (who was also present at the roundtable). For his comments, he received a long standing ovation. ¶4. (U) Some civil society members questioned whether Mugabe had not unilaterally closed the chapter on the elections and begun to resume his normal duties as if nothing abnormal was occurring, particularly after recently presiding over the celebrations marking the anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence. Other participants drew a parallel to upcoming elections in Mozambique and pondered the implications of a RENAMO victory over FRELIMO. Participants expressed serious macro-level concerns at the new trend emerging in African politics: instead of ensuring that the winner take power, international mediators advocate power sharing as a means of resolving electoral disputes. The discussion moved to Kenya, where the prevailing conclusion was that the international community was more interested in a political accommodation that avoided war than upholding the democratic electoral process. One director of a Mozambican NGO questioned, "If elections are beginning not to matter anymore why hold them in the first place?" ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: After three weeks without a resolution to the Zimbabwean elections, Mozambican civil society is becoming more openly critical. Far from being partisan supporters of Tsvangirai or the MDC, civil society appears genuinely concerned about the broader state of democracy in Mozambique and in the region as a whole. Talk of similarities between Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique may be premature, but it seems clear that certain sectors of Mozambican society are no longer buying the GRM's "wait and see" strategy. END COMMENT. Chapman