Zimbabwe 2008 Elections

[Michael Z]

The MDC claims to have won a landslide victory.

I think it's fairly obvious that, should the elections be free and fair, Tsvangirai will be President of Zimbabwe. But then the same would have been the case had the 2002 elections not been rigged and MDC supporters not been intimidated with violence. Of course, anti-Mugabe sentiment is so high that this alone won't do, they'd probably have to resort to other tactics.

On which note, I suspect that Simba Makoni was a Zanu-PF plant to split the opposition vote; bearing in mind that in this election people are voting against Mugabe, more than anything.

[Michael Z]

Well, thanks to that forum we do appear to have a date. 8.00am tomorrow Zimbabwe time (7.00am BST / 2.00am EDT) we should get some results.

Robert Mugabe will be confirmed as the winner. That is what the 'result' was always going to be from the onset. How people vote and the final result are two completely different systems.

I pray that I am wrong however.

If this happens, there are going to be riots that will put Kenya in the shade.

[Michael Z]

Well, thanks to that forum we do appear to have a date. 8.00am tomorrow Zimbabwe time (7.00am BST / 2.00am EDT) we should get some results.

Robert Mugabe will be confirmed as the winner. That is what the 'result' was always going to be from the onset. How people vote and the final result are two completely different systems.

I pray that I am wrong however.

If this happens, there are going to be riots that will put Kenya in the shade.

The army will just gun them down. Mugabe knows no-one outside will do anything to stop them. Not South Africa and certainly not us.

True, it might be more comparable to the recent Rangoon uprisings. Or worse, what happened in Burma in '88. Still, there's clearly a lot of anger towards Zanu-PF, even in their heartland.

It is definitely a shame, even disgraceful, that South Africa and other neighbouring countries have done little to nothing to stop the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

[Michael Z]

The summit is an utter farce. First there is the suggestion that Makoni becomes a "compromise" leader, in spite of the fact that he in all likelihood won a mere one-digit percentage figure, and now the MDC are being told to "respect" the result whatever it may be. Mbeki's ludricous remark about there not being a crisis in Zimbabwe is ridiculous of course, but unfortunately it's not unexpected either. The whole thing is an utter, utter face. These "leaders" should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.