Zimbabwean elections,

June 2000

O

n 24 and 25 June 2000, parliamentary

elections took place in Zimbabwe. The

ruling party, the Zimbabwean African

National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)

had been badly shaken by a referendum on a new

constitution that they had held in February and

which they lost. There was substantial violence

and intimidation before the June elections (most

of it by the supporters of ZANU-PF) and none

of the international observers thought that the

election was ‘fair and free’.

Four voters are waiting to vote in a con-

stituency in the capital city, Harare. The first

calls himself a war veteran (though he was too

young to have fought in the independence war),

and is grateful to the ruling party for providing

him with income. He has just come from a farm

outside Harare where he has been involved in

burning down the house of a white farmer and

helping to take over the land. He will certainly

vote for the ruling party and feels that the whites

and the main opposition party, the Movement

for Democratic Change (MDC), are trying to

return Zimbabwe to its former colonial past

and are basically in the pay of the British

government.

The second voter is an elderly white woman.

Unlike some of her friends who cannot vote

because they hold British passports, she is a

Zimbabwean citizen who was born in the

country. She is alarmed at the high inflation

and the land seizures that she believes to be

unconstitutional, and will vote for the MDC.

The third voter is a resident in one of the

townships in Harare. He is angered by the

decline in his living standard and the fact that

he recently lost his job. He is worried about the

future of his family and is thinking of going to

South Africa. Although he initially supported

ZANU-PF, he will now vote for the MDC.

The fourth voter is a domestic worker in

Harare. She was initially hostile to the dwindling

minority of whites since her white employer is

somewhat arrogant and paternalistic. But she has

heard from relatives in the rural areas of the

massive intimidation of voters, and can buy less

and less with her meagre income. Although she

would like to see more blacks own land, she feels

that the land seizure programme is basically

benefiting wealthy ministers in the government

and will not help ordinary people. She will vote

MDC.

Opposition MDC supporters in 2013; 13 years on Mugabe and ZANU-PF are still in power

© Reporter#7493001/Demotix/Corbis