Tensions Build In Zimbabwe Leading Up To Elections

A former trade union leader, Morgan Tsvangirai heads the larger faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Tsvangirai's MDC came close to winning power in parliamentary elections in 2000 and in a presidential vote in 2002.

Tsvangirai's credentials, however, were questioned after a serious split in MDC ranks in 2005, when he overruled a decision by the party's leadership to take part in elections for the senate and ordered a boycott.

Tsvangirai seemed a fading force after the MDC split, but has emerged as a strong challenger in this year's election. He grew in stature when he was badly beaten last year after taking part in a prayer meeting that police claimed was illegal.

Mugabe said the veteran trade unionist "deserved" his treatment for disobeying police orders, but pictures of a battered Tsvangirai only improved his reputation as a man courageous enough to stand up to an increasingly ruthless ruler.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the Zimbabwean government’s refusal to allow several leading international news media to cover the 29 March general elections although it has signed international conventions that require it to guarantee “total access to national and international media.”

“The 29 March poll has again been marred by authoritarian measures and irregularities,” Reporters Without Borders said. “When they have taken stock of these latest developments, the international observers accepted by the government will not be able to pretend that the circumstances surrounding the elections were fine. It is clear that press freedom, at least, has not been guaranteed, which is a serious flaw for elections that are supposed to be democratic.”

Presidential spokesman George Charamba announced on 24 March, five days ahead of the poll, that a government committee set up to examine requests from international media for accreditation to cover the elections had refused most of the requests. “We are mindful of attempts to turn journalists into observers and security personnel from hostile countries,” Charamba had previously said.

The main news media to be rebuffed are the British state broadcaster, the BBC, the American TV networks CNN and MSNBC, the South African broadcaster E-tv, the London-based dailies The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, and South Africa’s Independent Newspapers Group.

The government has granted accreditation to the state-owned South Africa Broadcasting Corporation but has forbidden it to use its own satellite transmission equipment. It must instead use equipment provided by Zimbabwe’s state-owned broadcaster, ZBC.

Human rights groups today accused Robert Mugabe's government of harassing and intimidating opposition supporters before Saturday's national elections.

Amnesty International cited a case on March 7, when three members of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were ordered by intelligence officers to take down election posters.

According to Amnesty, the officials forced the opposition supporters to chew the posters and swallow them.

"We continue to receive reports of intimidation, harassment and violence against perceived supporters of opposition candidates - with many in rural regions fearful that there will be retribution after the elections," said Amnesty's Zimbabwe researcher, Simeon Mawanza, who has recently returned from the country.