Mugabe's international enablers

National Post ^ | 2008-04-19 | (editorial page)

[Clive]

We know most of our readers need no further proof that internationalist organizations such as the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the African Union (AU) are nothing more than toothless debating societies. But those few who need more convincing need look no further than Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe is stealing last month's elections in plain sight, and not one of the major talk-shops is lifting a finger to stop him.

Sunday will mark three weeks since Zimbabweans voted for a parliament and president, and still the official results have not been released. The country's national election commission, appointed by Mr. Mugabe, has offered no convincing explanation for the delay, fuelling speculation that the results favour the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and that the commission is merely stalling

The world community has essentially washed its hands of Zimbabwe's crisis until it can stuff enough ballot boxes to swing the tallies back in favour of Mr. Mugabe's socialist ZANU-PF party.

This weekend will be crucial. If Zimbabwe's courts -- also full of Mugabe appointees --permit the election commission to go ahead with recounts in the 22 constituencies whose results are disputed by Mr. Mugabe's followers, but not in the 60 challenged by the MDC, then by Monday it may be possible for ZANU-PF and Mr. Mugabe to claim re-election.

The local results that trickled out after the March 29 election showed the main opposition winning 109 of 210 parliamentary seats to ZANUPF's 97. Meanwhile, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai captured just over 50% of the presidential ballots, while Mr. Mugabe received just under 50%. With such slim margins, it would not be necessary for Mr. Mugabe's handpicked commissioners to rig the vote much to reverse the results in his favour. (Even if the Mugabefriendly courts rule against the recounts he has demanded, the election commission says it will go ahead, another sure sign that Mr. Mugabe and his cronies are intent on winning at all costs.)

So where are the Commonwealth, the UN and the AU? They have each essentially washed their hands of the crisis. They all claim to have ceded responsibility for breaking the Zimbabwean impasse to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an emerging union of 14 nations in the region, patterned after the EU.

But the SADC is dominated by South Africa, and South African President Thabo Mbeki is an old chum of Mr. Mugabe's. It is no coincidence that the SADC last week appointed Mr. Mbeki to broker a deal between Mr. Mugabe and his opponents, nor that Mr. Mugabe has felt free to crack down on the opposition in the days since, arresting scores of MDC officials and accusing Mr. Tsvangirai of treason, an offence punishable by death in Zimbabwe.

By off-loading responsibility to Mr. Mbeki, the Commonwealth, UN and AU have, for all intents and purposes, given their blessing to Mr. Mugabe's electoral theft. Mr. Mbeki is too cozy with Mr. Mugabe to force his old anti-colonial warrior-in-arms to play fair, and the large international organizations knew this when they agreed to step aside for the SADC.

On Friday, in a bizarre speech filled with the sort of conspiracy theories that Mr. Mugabe is fond of peddling whenever his iron rule is jeopardized, the 84-year-old strongman claimed that under his opponents, Zimbabwe would "go back to white people, to the British."

Many Zimbabweans no doubt wish this were true. Since independence in 1980, the annual income of the average Zimbabwean has fallen from $1,200 to under $500. Unemployment is currently as high as 80%, and inflation is well over 120,000%. Mr. Mugabe's land reforms, corruption and flights of central-planning fantasy are the reason, but the President has instead blamed his problems on foreign (especially British) conspirators.

As clownish as Mr. Mugabe's threats are, the joke is very much on the world community. For all our moralizing, he will never be forced from office so long as cowardly international organizations refuse to act against him. And Zimbabwe will never be able to recover so long as the international community timidly leaves Mr. Mugabe in power.

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[EQAndyBuzz]

The Domino theory is alive and well and being run from New York City.

[CPOSharky]

The only wy he is leaving the office is horizontally.

Seems like more and more countries are going the socialist commie dictator route. Maybe the free west should just stop giving them any kind of help. They obviously can’t take cre of themselves.

[nuconvert]

Bump

[Nextrush]

Back in the 1970’s Mugabe was described as Chinese-backed when he was fighting in opposition to Rhodesia.

And today he’s propped up by our “dear friends” in the Peoples Republic of China.

Port workers in South Africa refused to unload a Chinese ship loaded with weapons and ammo for Mugabe.

And you wonder why people get upset about the Olympics in Beijing?

[Enchante]

“recounts” in selected areas dominated by one’s corrupt supporters controlling the “recount”

hmmmmm..... why does this remind me of our own corrupt and depraved 3rd World socialists led by Albore in 2000?

[norton]

"Since independence in 1980, the annual income of the average Zimbabwean has fallen from $1,200 to under $500. Unemployment is currently as high as 80%, and inflation is well over 120,000%."

If those are all 1980 dollars, the 20% of working Zimbabweans got some sizable raises.
If they're 2008 dollars, even the working 20% might well have eaten each other before the vote count is in.

"...Zimbabwe will never be able to recover so long as the international community timidly leaves Mr. Mugabe in power.

That would be because no one else, African or non African, cares about Zimbabwe. It is a huge embarrassment to the political order that determined it proper to end white rule at any cost.

Note also that "recovery" in this instance means "other people will not be able to dump immense sums of money and large numbers of 'experts' into a small region in order to build refugee camps, install NGOs, relabel food donations, and perhaps build a shoddy hospital or two while bureaucrats and still other experts, comfortably far away, debate what is best for the (still underfed and unemployed) natives really, really, need.

So long as the refugees go someplace else (NIMBY) no one will raise a finger. By design, the locals don't have strength or resources to revolt - if they ever had the will to do so."