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POLITICS: African Gov’ts Reject U.N. Intervention in Zimbabwe

Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 18 2008 (IPS) - Despite mounting pressure from some major Western powers to intervene in Zimbabwe’s electoral crisis, U.N. involvement remains a distant possibility.

At the U.N.-African Union (EU) Summit held here Wednesday, both the United States and Britain argued that a U.N. presence in Zimbabwe was critical to break the deadlock, but their position failed to win over most of the AU members.

“This matter should be put to the government of Zimbabwe,” South African President Thabo Mbeki told reporters.

The government of President Robert Mugabe contends that the delay in releasing the Mar. 29 election results is due to anomalies that occurred during the polls. The country’s Electoral Commission says it cannot release the results until it completes a partial recount, due this weekend.

But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has refused to accept the government’s contention and says that the recount is just a ploy to cover up the ruling party’s defeat.

In a statement Thursday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Mbeki should stand down as a mediator. He also accused the Mugabe government of committing gross human rights violations and called for the U.N. to bring the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Mbeki and Mugabe are old comrades in their joint struggle against white apartheid rule in South Africa and Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, before the days of independence.

Mbeki said Wednesday if election results indicated that no candidate has reached the absolute majority of more than 50 percent, then there would be a run-off. “That second round should be handled in the same way as the first round, with no violence,” he said.

Mbeki, whose country currently holds the 15-member Security Council’s presidency, said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is fully capable of handling the current political crisis in Zimbabwe. SADC is currently waiting for the announcement of final results.

“If the situation deteriorates and becomes a threat to peace and security, then the matter should be on the Security Council’s agenda,” he told reporters. However, in the same breath, he added: “The solution lies in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe.”

The Zimbabwean opposition does not want a second round of elections. “There is no need for runoff because we have won the elections,” Tsvangirai, who is currently in Botswana, said in a statement.

In response, the Mugabe government accused him of playing into the hands of Western powers. Both the U.S. and Britain, as well as the European Commission, say they want an immediate release of the Mar. 29 election results.

In a statement Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the situation as an “abomination” and harshly criticised the AU stance.

“It’s time for Africa to step up,” Rice said. “Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe’s neighbours about what is going on in Zimbabwe?”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also issued a statement Wednesday saying the world must stop Mugabe from “stealing elections”. He also raised the prospect of a run-off contest supervised by the U.N. monitors.

“No one thinks, having seen the results in polling stations, that President Mugabe has won this election,” he told the UN-AU Summit. “A stolen election would not be a democratic election at all.”

In contrast to the U.S. and British position on Zimbabwe, both Russia and China, two other veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council, refrained from issuing any public statements at the summit. However, diplomats from both countries said that regional organisations such as the AU were showing more willingness to resolve African problems.

The Zimbabwean opposition leader says he wants the international community to block the shipment of arms to his country, although there is no U.N. Security Council resolution in place calling for an arms embargo against Zimbabwe.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has remained largely neutral in the dispute.

“The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the region have insisted that these matters are for the region to resolve,” he said, “but the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action.”

“The credibility of the democratic process in Africa could be at stake here,” he told the summit. “If there is a second round of elections, they must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner, with international observers.”