The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) position on the current political stalemate in Zimbabwe

WE, the General Council members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), meeting at the Quality International Hotel in Harare today 12 July 2008 for an update on the current political situation in the country, in the aftermath of the 27 June 2008 Presidential Election Run-off;

Pursuant of our Communiqué issued on 21 June 2008, which focused on:

• the violent environment prior to the holding of the Presidential Election Run Off of 27 June 2008;
• the conduct of political parties during the campaigning period; and
• the State's preparedness for holding a free and fair election

Noting that the 21 June 2008 Communiqué highlighted that,

• Political violence in the country had reached alarming if not catastrophic proportions;
• The 27 June Presidential election was not an election, but a declaration of war against the people of Zimbabwe by the ruling party;
• Dozens of people were murdered due to politically motivated violence;
• Thousands of people were threatened with death,  beaten, tortured and harassed for expressing or supporting the opposition political party;
• People were forced to attend political rallies failure of which they were severely beaten up;
• There was deployment and sprouting of several bases led by the ruling party militia that harassed and perpetrated political violence;
• The usual poling officers, that is teachers and other civil servants, where sidelined in the running of elections in favour of ruling party supporters;
• Thousands of people were displaced through political violence and thereby unable to vote;
• The State President made it clear that he would not accept defeat even if he lost the elections.
• Very few local observers were accredited to oversee the conduct of the elections;
• There was continuous harassment of workers on their way to and from work by youth militias who had been deployed in suburbs;
• Opposition party agents were harassed, some killed and therefore were unable to monitor what happened in some wards on the day of the election;
• The opposition was not granted permission to campaign;
• There was a complete black out of the opposition in the public media and in case where it was mentioned, it was always in negative light;
• Potential voters were threatened if they voted for the opposition;

Further noting that the 21 June 2008 Communiqué conveyed the resolutions that:

• The Government disbands bases in all suburbs and unofficial road blocks manned by the youths militia;
• The government stops violence and allow local observers that were accredited for the March 29, 2008 Harmonised Elections to observe the Presidential Run Off.
• The ZCTU would not accept an outcome of a flawed election and reserved the right to reject result of a flawed election;

Having reconvened today, 12 July 2008 to discuss in particular:

• The process and the outcome of the Presidential Run Off Elections
• The current efforts towards resolving the election dispute
• The Way forward

And having observed that:

• None of the demands stated in the communiqué of 21 June 2008 were attended to;
• The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Election Observer Mission said "The elections did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe ";
• The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Observer Mission concluded that "the current atmosphere prevailing in the country did not give rise to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections...";
• The African Union (AU) Observer Mission also noted that "in the context of the AU Declaration of the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, it is the considered view of the African Union Observers Mission that the Election process fell short of accepted AU standards";
• The nature of the current dispute is about the 27 June 2007 Presidential Election Run Off, not the 29 March 2008 Harmonised Local Government, Parliamentary, senatorial and Presidential elections;
• There are inter-party talks going on aimed at resolving the current political impasse;
• The current composition and structure of negotiations should stick to the parties of the 27^th June Presidential elections, that is, Zanu PF's Robert Mugabe and MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.

Worried that:

• The current mediator in the talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki is part-time and has been leading the negotiations on Zimbabwe for a long time without much success is perceived as sympathetic to the ruling Zanu PF.
• Other players not connected to the Presidential election dispute have been included
• The talks are concentrated on the issue of power sharing and Government of National Unity (GNU) at the exclusion of other options.

We therefore resolve that:

• The 27 July 2008 elections were not free and fair and did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe ;
• That the mediation efforts should not be left to President Thabo Mbeki alone, it has to be expanded to include other AU members, preferably a retired President who would work full-time;
• The MDC fronted by Authur Mutambara should not be part of the talks since the election in dispute is that of 27 June 2008, of which only two Presidential candidates, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai took part;
• Inter-party talks should take less than two months because the economy is in bad shape, violence is continuing and  people are suffering;
• A Government of National Unity is a subversion of our National Constitution and only a Neutral Transitional Authority should be put in place with a mandate to take Zimbabwe to fresh, free and fair elections that will hopefully not be disputed by the parties.

Statement issued by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions July 16 2008