ZIMBABWE: Ruling Party in Narrow Win

By Lewis Machipisa

HARARE (IPS) - Political analysts and opposition members say  intimidation of opposition supporters in the rural areas played a major part in steering the ruling party to it's narrow win in  recent parliamentary elections.

President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party was restricted to a narrow win by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

In the hotly-contested legislative elections, final official results from the Election Directorate gave Mugabe's ZANU-PF 61 seats against 58 for the labour backed MDC. One seat went to the small Zanu-Donga party led by ZANU-PF founding member, Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole. ZANU (Ndonga) has traditionally won that seat since independence.

The MDC was formed  nine months ago, and had all the stacks against it - 31 MDC members were killed and hundreds brutally assaulted before the elections and the party did not have access to the influential state media.

''In the end,'' Enoch Dumbutshena, Zimbabwe's first black Chief Justice of the Supreme Court told IPS, ''people in the rural areas gave in to the violence.''

The MDC was successful in all 19 of the capital Harare's urban constituencies and in all eight in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city. The MDC also performed well in urban and rural western region of Matabeleland, which was traditionally the stronghold of ZAPU-PF. ZAPU-PF later merged with ZANU-PF in 1987 to form ZANU-PF.

ZANU-PF won in most of the rural constituencies. The opposition failed to win a single seat in Mashonaland Central, one of the provinces which experienced the brunt of the intimidation and attacks.

''We are looking at challenging in 23 constituencies either for electoral irregularities or for allegations of rigging and we will decide that tomorrow (Wednesday),'' said Eddie Cross, MDC secretary for economic affairs.

''We are not happy with the way the elections were conducted but if there is no rigging and these guys are not found guilty of electoral fraud of any kind or another we will accept the result. we expected to win 84 to 89 seats,'' said Cross.

''We lost this election largely through the manner in which the elections were conducted,'' he charged.

''In many of these constituencies, they have only won through intimidation,'' said MDC legal adviser David Coltart who won a seat.

War veterans leader, Chenjerai Hunzvi, who led the often violent invasion of hundreds of white-owned commercial farms,  won in the rural Chikomba constituency with a large majority.

But Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC president and former secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade  Unions (ZCTU), stood against his cousin and Manicaland governor Kenneth Manyonda of ZANU-PF in the Buhera North constituency. Manyonda scored 12,850 votes compared to  Tsvangirai's 10,315.

The MDC leader will, however, be standing as the party's presidential candidate in 2002. The ruling party has not said whether Mugabe who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 will be standing. Now 76 years old, pressure is mounting on him not to.

A disappointed Tsvangirai  said some results coming from rural areas, were ''very suspicious''.

''Obviously this is worrying because most of these areas were badly affected by the pre-election violence.,” he said.

Tsvangirai has said his party would mount a legal challenge to the results from constituencies where they believe there has been serious manipulation.

But there were those who conquered even against the greatest of threats. White commercial farmer, Roy Bennet, whose farm was invaded and occupied by veterans of Zimbabwe's war of liberation and ZANU-PF supporters, took the Chimanimani seat in eastern Zimbabwe for the MDC.

Before the elections, ZANU-PF held 147 of the 150 seats in parliament. Of these 120 are contested while President Mugabe nominates MPs for 30 other seats. A total of 12 seats are reserved for traditional chiefs, eight for provincial governors and 10 for any others Mugabe may wish to appoint to the legislature.

In the history of Zimbabwe, Mugabe has always appointed members from his ruling party.

While the MDC is disappointed that it did not win the majority, no other opposition party has ever made such a showing at the polls. Eight government ministers and several deputy ministers lost their seats in parliament.

International and local observers have generally agreed that the polling itself went smoothly.

''We have reached the tentative conclusion that, all things considered, voting was held in a generally peaceful atmosphere. The voting process was smooth and the Zimbabwean people have successfully exercised their franchise,'' said the Organisation of African Unity.

But the weekend elections have been dismissed by international monitors as neither free nor fair following months of ruthless intimidation of opposition members by the ruling party.

''ZANU (PF) leaders seemed to sanction the use of violence and intimidation against political opponents and contributed significantly to the climate of fear,'' said EU observer team head Pierre Schori.

Schori condemned ''high levels of violence, intimidation and coercion'' during the campaign. ''The term free and fair is not applicable in these elections,'' said Schori, a Swedish former aid minister. But ZANU (PF) leaders dismissed his criticism.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Police Commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, has appealed for people to remain calm and peaceful after the election. Chihuri said the winners should win gracefully and those who lost should bow out honourably.

Riot police, armed to the hilt, have been deployed around the country. ''As a country, we need law and order,'' said Chihuri.

About three million of registered 5.1 million voters are estimated to have voted - the highest level of voting since the first post- independence elections of 1980.

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