Low turnout in key by-election

Zimbabwe’s main opposition the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Monday it held out little hope of winning a key weekend by-election and blamed government-sponsored political violence during the campaign.

The Marondera West constituency, about 100 km south of Harare, is situated in the Mashonaland stronghold of the ruling ZANU-PF. Violence and intimidation against the MDC during the campaign was reportedly widespread. One opposition supporter was killed last weekend when pro-government militants opened fire on an MDC rally, and another was seriously injured. The MDC’s candidate, Shadreck Chipangura, abandoned campaigning last week, and party leader Morgan Tsvangirai was unable to hold a final rally in the area, the home region of President Robert Mugabe.

“The entire by-election has been marked once again by high levels of political violence by ZANU-PF which has sadly been reflected in the relatively low turn out,” MDC legal affairs secretary David Coltart told IRIN. He estimated that in a constituency with 36,000 registered voters, only some 12,000 cast their ballots, compared with 16,000 in parliamentary elections in June. The result from Marondera is expected late on Monday.

“We are not confident that in spite of the violence people voted MDC. But given the levels of intimidation we can’t say it was a total disaster. It will only be a blow to us if we get less votes than we did last time,” Coltart said. ZANU-PF won the seat with a majority of more than 6,000 in June. The weekend election was called after the sitting MP was killed in a car accident in August.

“As long as we increase (our number of votes) we will get some comfort from that,” Coltart added. “In the run up to the presidential elections (in 2002) its critically important we are seen to be making inroads in places where Mugabe has his support.”

Coltart said the Marondera by-election was “highly significant” as the first poll since the June election, in which the MDC emerged as the first real political challenge to ZANU-PF’s 20-year stranglehold on political power. “If we don’t improve here, or indeed if we lose ground, it is an indication that ZANU-PF’S policies of violence and intimidation are succeeding,” Coltart remarked.

He added the MDC was undertaking a “post-mortem” of its campaign strategy that could have a bearing on a string of potential re-election contests that are awaiting High Court rulings. The MDC has appealed against the results of the June general election in some 36 constituencies with the courts expected to hear an initial batch of cases between January and May. “What happened in Marondera was that our campaign was too visible, we presented ZANU with far too many targets, and we may have to drop the profile in future campaigns,” Coltart said.