MDC disputes Lupane election result

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party took a step closer to gaining a two-thirds parliamentary majority after its victory in a weekend by-election. The seat for the Lupane constituency in the Matabeleland North province became vacant on the death of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP, David Mpala, earlier this year. ZANU-PF candidate Martin Khumalo beat Njabulo Mguni of the MDC by 883 votes in the two-day poll, taking the ruling party to within two seats of a two-thirds majority in the 150-seat parliament, and the right to amend the constitution, should it wish to do so. Khumalo polled 10,069 votes against Mguni's 9,186, with 40 percent of the 48,134 registered voters casting their ballots. MDC spokesman Paul Temba Nyathi said the result, as with past elections, was "an indication of how democracy has been mutilated in Zimbabwe". He alleged that in the run-up to the by-election, 12 MDC campaign rallies were disrupted by ZANU-PF supporters, while police had denied the MDC permission to hold a rally under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). "People will continue to be denied their democratic rights whenever elections are [held] under conditions that do not come anywhere near the SADC [Southern African Development Community] norms and standards. As long as we have traditional leaders threatening their subjects with retribution if they do not vote a certain way, that does not enhance democracy," Nyathi told IRIN. Since the general election in 2000, when the MDC launched their electoral challenge to the ruling party and secured 57 seats, ZANU-PF has won back three rural and two urban constituencies in by-elections. Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi of the University of Zimbabwe said the Lupane by-election gave an indication of "the trend in the 2005 general elections, as far as the rural vote in Matabeleland is concerned". But Nyathi said there was "a world of difference between being able to cow [into submission] one constituency, and doing so successfully in 120 constituencies at the same time. We will demand that SADC norms and standards be introduced for the coming elections".