16 April 2008
Recent Developments in Zimbabwe
by the South African Communist Party
The South African Communist Party has been closely following events in
Zimbabwe, including the circumstances surrounding the recently held
national
elections. We wish to join our allies, the ANC (African National
Congress)
and COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions), in expressing our
concern in how these political developments are unfolding. We are
extremely
worried and strongly condemn the ZEC's (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission)
clandestine management and failure to announce all the results, more than
two weeks after voting. There is every merit to the insistence that all
election results be expeditiously announced. The SACP fully supports such
a
call.
Consistent with the past SACP principled perspectives, our view is that
current day Zimbabwe represents a post-colonial aberration of national
democratic objectives of transformation, in which popular aspirations are
deferred, in the interest of narrowly elitist accumulation projects of a
small bureaucratic stratum and the most parasitic sections of the ruling
class.
The SACP remains convinced that the principal cause of the deteriorating
situation in Zimbabwe is that of a degenerating national liberation
movement, which once fought a heroic struggle, but now paying the price of
being trapped in state power that is not buttressed by the people's will.
The intransigence of not releasing the results, and the deployment of
police
and the army within communities, represents the growing alienation of
sections of the Zimbabwean elites from control and monopoly of
bureaucratic
state power.
It is important that South Africa and SADC (Southern African Development
Community), does not pander to the whims of the Zimbabwean elites, and
should allow the realization of democratic aspirations of the poor people
of
Zimbabwe. Otherwise this sets a terribly bad precedent for the SADC
region,
if not the African continent as a whole.
Failure to release the election results is tantamount to stealing the
elections from the people and risks whatever little credibility that ZEC
still had.
The SACP reiterates its principled solidarity support to the suffering
people of Zimbabwe and calls for an end to the crisis.
Issued by the SACP
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop
uk
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