World

Zimbabwe Talks: Still No Deal

by Jordan Yerman | August 31, 2008 at 02:02 pm

136 views | 5 Recommendations | 1 comment

The beleaguered talks between rival parties ZANU-PF and MDC have failed to cement a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, even a s the opposition finds its voice on the Parliament floor.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Nelson Chamisa told the BBC the balance of power was in dispute.

He said President Robert Mugabe wanted MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to become a titular prime minister without real authority, which was "unacceptable".

Mr Mugabe last week threatened to form a new government without the MDC.

Meanwhile, I saw this neat CNN article about the use of mobile phones to turn voters into Citizen Election Monitors.

Senegal is one of a number of African countries to hold successful elections by keeping voting and counting in check through independent communication.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said many African nations now had a "very open society" and the increasing success of elections owed a lot to the existence of mobile phones.

"With communication and cell phones, this is where it is difficult to cheat in elections now. You are announced at the district level and cell phones go wild so by the time you go to the capital, if you have changed the figures, they will know and you will be caught out."

According to experts, cellphones are particularly important for Africa due to a lack of some other technologies.

An interesting piece, but it perhaps naively presumes that the incumbents care about the numbers of actual votes.

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mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:27 on August 31st, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.

This has to have been one of the wierdest elections I've ever followed. I can't believe that this fiasco is still dragging-on. In the meantime, what's happening the country?