MDC PARLIAMENTARIAN PUSHED OUT BY JUDGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000040 SIPDIS AF/S FOR B. WALCH DRL FOR N. WILETT ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV ASEC PHUM PREL ZI SUBJECT: MDC PARLIAMENTARIAN PUSHED OUT BY JUDGE Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A Zimbabwean judge disqualified an MDC member of parliament after convicting her of forging signatures nominating her to run in the March 2008 parliamentary elections. Lynette Karenyi was convicted by Magistrate Billard Musakwa of forging four signatures nominating her to contest the Chimanimani West seat she won by beating out ZANU-PF candidate Munacho Mutezo. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Magistrate Musakwa convicted Karenyi of violating the Zimbabwean Electoral Act by forging nominating signatures. Under the terms of the Act, the conviction nullifies her election. According to the state-controlled media, her disqualification will be effective immediately. ¶3. (SBU) After the parliamentary elections held in March 2008, the Tsvangirai faction of the MDC held 100 seats to ZANU-PF's 99 seats; the MDC-M faction won ten seats and there was one independent allied to ZANU-PF. Consequently, should each party retain their vacant seats in parliament through either by-elections or implementation of the September 2008 power-sharing agreement, a vacancy in the Chimanimani West constituency would wipe out the MDC-T's plurality. (NOTE: There are currently four vacant seats in the House of Assembly. Three were vacated by the deaths of ZANU-PF MPs, and the other was vacated by the elevation of Lovemore Moyo to the position of Speaker of the House of Assembly. END NOTE.) ¶4. (C) MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told us that the MDC believes the charges to be trumped up. It plans to appeal the conviction to the High Court, and in contradiction with the report in the state-controlled media, Chamisa said that Karenyi would be legally entitled to remain in her seat pending a final High Court ruling. Chamisa also explained that the Chimanimani West constituency was an MDC stronghold which the MDC could be expected to win in a fair election; he acknowledged, however, that potential ZANU-PF rigging could make the seat problematic. (NOTE: In the March elections, Karenyi won 55 percent of the constituency votes after which ZANU-PF made a failed attempt to force a reversal of results through a recount. END NOTE.) -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) The effect of the loss of an MDC-T seat in Parliament would be symbolically significant. While the support of the majority of Mutambara faction MPs would still hamstring ZANU-PF objectives in Parliament, the MDC-T could no longer claim a plurality. Moreover, it increases the risk that defection by a number of MDC-M parliamentarians could hand ZANU-PF an edge. END COMMENT. MCGEE