Saturday - April 19, 2008

This is what real disenfranchisement looks like

This post was put up as an educational opportunity to any far left readers. Surely we have one or two? Remember this post come November, and think back to how much blood has been shed in Zimbabwe between now and then. My prediction is that several thousand will die over this in the next 7 months, and it could go so far as revolution.

Officials began recounting ballots for a couple dozen legislative seats Saturday, an exercise that could overturn the opposition’s landmark victory.Meanwhile, an independent human rights monitor charged that the government has begun a campaign of torture and harassment against those who voted for the opposition, while the country continues to await the results of presidential election.

The ruling party is challenging the count in 23 parliamentary races, most won by the opposition, including in President Robert Mugabe’s home district of Zvimba. The counting began after an opposition attempt to stop it was blocked in court Friday. The court is stacked with Mugabe loyalists.

The opposition has also gone to court to try to force the release of results from the presidential vote. Three weeks after the March 29 elections, which Mugabe is widely believed to have lost, they have not yet been published.

Results from legislative races held alongside the presidential votes gave control of the parliament to the opposition for the first time.

In Zvimba, officials excluded reporters as the count began in the presence of officials from the ruling and opposition parties as well as local observers.

Reporters saw no international observers present, though the state-controlled Herald newspaper quoted officials of the Southern African Development Community as saying it had sent 50 monitors.

In one contested constituency, The Herald reported a failed petrol bomb attack on offices where ballot boxes were stored early Friday morning. The newspaper quoted police as saying three attackers threw a homemade bomb at the Gutu district administration office, but that it did not explode. It said the attackers drove away when challenged by a police officer.

New York-based Human Rights Watch charged in a report released Saturday that “torture and violence are surging in Zimbabwe.”

It said the ruling party was setting up “torture camps to systematically target, beat, and torture people suspected of having voted for the (opposition) MDC in last months elections.”

Let’s also recall that Mugabe has ordered up a boatload of weapons from China recently. Maybe since the election? After all, how long would the proverbial “slow boat from China” take to get to Zimbabwe? (about 2 weeks actually. 7000ish nautical miles at 20 knots)

So there you have it. The counting is obviously rigged. The courts are rigged. Probably there is no privacy in the balloting, if “suspected opposition voters” are being tortured. There is torture going on, and in Africa that means the real deal, not some panties on your head. So the next time we have an election here, shut up. Somebody has to own the voting machine companies; just because Mr. Diebold happens to be a Republican doesn’t mean a thing. And if you’re not allowed to vote because you were too stupid and lazy to get out and register ahead of time, tough luck. And if you’re such a loser that you can’t even detach a chad properly AND you don’t even bother to check, too bad. Is our system perfect? No. Can it be improved? Yes it can, but most of the resistance to such improvements is coming from your side of the aisle. So shut up again. And thank God once again that you don’t live in Africa.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/19/2008 at 08:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Africa • Politics •  
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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