MDC makes gains, despite low turnout

Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), made a strong showing in weekend municipal elections, but the polls were marred by a low voter turnout among weary Zimbabweans. The MDC won six out of the seven contested executive mayoral posts, but in a result which it has threatened not to recognise, lost in the Midlands town of Kwekwe, where high levels of intimidation and violence were reported by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an independent election observer body. The MDC won 135 out of 267 council wards up for grabs in 21 towns and cities, while the ruling ZANU-PF took 88. However, even before the elections began, ZANU-PF already had 44 council wards under its belt, and the executive mayoral post in Bindura, about 80 km north of Harare. The MDC said its candidates had been intimidated out of standing in those wards by ruling party thugs. In one example in Chegutu town, which voted for an MDC mayor last year, all 11 aspiring MDC councillors were prevented from registering as candidates, allowing ZANU-PF to win "unopposed". Turnout in the elections was just 11 percent. Political scientist Eldred Masunungure suggested voter apathy was related to a lack of trust in the electoral process which, since the emergence of the MDC, has been characterised by high levels of violence and alleged rigging. Come polling day, Zimbabweans felt they had better things to do than stand in line to cast a ballot. "Zimbabweans are now frustrated because they don't think the electoral process is the proper avenue to use in order to solve their problems. That is why Zimbabweans are prepared to queue for hours to get cash or fuel, but they will not have the patience to queue in order to cast their vote," Masunungure told IRIN. As a result of the elections, the MDC will now have executive mayors in the resort towns of Victoria Falls and Kariba. It also has elected mayors in the Midlands province capital of Gweru, in the capital of Manicaland province, Mutare, as well as Gwanda, the capital of Matabeleland South province, and the small steel-mining town of Redcliff, also in the Midlands. Before the weekend poll the MDC already had executive mayors in the capital, Harare, the second largest city, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's oldest town, Masvingo, in Chitungwiza, 35 km from Harare, and Chegutu, about 250 km southwest of Harare. ZANU-PF, however, consolidated its power in the small towns, which are influenced heavily by rural communities surrounding them. ZANU-PF swept all the nine wards in Karoi, Marondera and Norton in Mashonaland province. The ruling party also retained the rural Makonde constituency by a large margin, with journalist- turned-politician, Kindness Paradza, winning the by-election with 11,223 votes to his MDC rival's 1,769. However, it lost the Harare Central constituency to the MDC by 2,707 votes to 1,304. ZANU-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said on Tuesday he was pleased with the results. "They show that the MDC does not control all the urban centres but that ZANU-PF still has some support in the towns." This assertion was denied by MDC spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi. "What is becoming clear is that Zanu PF has become confined to little growth points, because they have been banished from strategic and important areas like Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru. The only reason why the ruling party is able to control the small settlements is because they are able to exert pressure on the electorate by using food to buy votes, while employing barbaric tactics of beating and raping people to cow them." Masunungure said although the power of the councils and mayors was limited by the influence of the minister of local government, the MDC's showing had nonetheless been significant. "The election outcome has actually strengthened the hand of the MDC on the issue of negotiating a settlement to end the problems afflicting Zimbabwe. The elections confirmed that with its huge following, the MDC will have to have a say on the way forward," he observed.