The Movement for Democratic Change parallel voting centre which was set up to counter vote-rigging by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front in the 29 March elections did not have the intended impact because the party waited too late to get it going.
Two parallel voting centres were set up to monitor the elections and were supposed to announce their results before the official Zimbabwe Election Commission results to push the ZEC to announce its results and prevent the government body from rigging the elections.
One was set up by the MDC and the other by the Zimbabwe Election Supervisory Network. The ZESN centre was funded by the United States government while mobile network operator Econet was reportedly behind the MDC centre.
The MDC’s American adviser Kathi Walters told United States embassy officials in Pretoria that the MDC centre had about 80 percent of the votes captured, so it could not say party leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won definitively without having 100 percent of the votes unless Tsvangirai’s numbers were higher.
MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti insisted that Tsvangirai had won an outright majority and there was no need for a runoff.
Walters admitted that getting hold of individual polling agents was difficult because phone lines in Zimbabwe were unreliable. She feared that there might be little proof of MDC votes as most data came in through text messages but did not know if this information had been captured.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08PRETORIA812, MDC UNDECIDED ABOUT RUNOFF
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO9783
PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #0812/01 1071503
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 161503Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4187
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0659
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1498
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0619
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1338
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN PRIORITY 5528
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN PRIORITY 9753
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 000812
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PLEASE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KHUM KDEM SF ZI
SUBJECT: MDC UNDECIDED ABOUT RUNOFF
PRETORIA 00000812 001.2 OF 002
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Donald Teitelbaum. Reasons 1.4(
b) and (d).
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. MDC advisor Kathi Walters (strictly protect)
told PolOff on 15 April that MDC Leader Morgan Tsvangirai is
still in Johannesburg, having received death threats. She
does not believe Tsvangirai is afraid to go back, but could
not say if or when he was going to return. Today, Tsvangirai
and other MDC leaders are in a workshop to decide on the
party’s strategy for moving forward, specifically whether
they should participate in a runoff or boycott. Personally,
she does not believe in participating because she does not
think voters will turn out for a “5th rigged election.”
Walters, who was deeply involved in the parallel voting
center, also admitted that it suffered from lack of
preparation and may not have the impact MDC hoped. END
SUMMARY.
———————————-
RUNOFF OR BOYCOTT? STILL UNDECIDED
———————————-
¶2. (C) MDC advisor Kathi Walters (strictly protect) told
PolOff on 15 April that MDC Leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
other officials were in a “workshop” in Johannesburg trying
to decide if they should boycott a runoff or participate, and
if so, under what conditions. (BIO NOTE: Walters, who
resides in South Africa, is a former IRI consultant and has
worked officially and unofficially with the MDC for the past
8 years. END NOTE) When asked why this is only being
discussed now, she said, “We never imagined a run-off would
be under these conditions.” However, not soon after, she
said she personally believes the MDC should not participate,
saying it would be “useless” because people would not come
out to vote. “A run-off would make the fifth election in
which Zimbabweans have voted and the election rigged,” she
said matter of factly.
¶3. (C) However, Walters said that if they do decide to
participate, the MDC would probably want to have an outside
observer, like SADC, actually run the election — from
printing and distributing the ballots to actually counting
them. As for uniting opposition forces for a runoff, she
said the two MDC camps are “virtually reunited” and that the
MDC does not need Makoni’s votes since he took most of his
votes away from MDC, not ZANU-PF, anyway. (COMMENT: She said
she was next to Tsvangirai on 2 April when he called Makoni
to ask if he wanted to make a joint statement with him; she
said Makoni flatly refused. END COMMENT)
————————————
WEAKNESSES OF PARALLEL VOTING CENTER
————————————
¶4. (C) PolOff also asked why the parallel voting center did
not have the intended impact. Walters admitted they waited
too late to get it going. She believes they had about 80
percent of votes captured, but could not say Tsvangirai won
definitively without having 100 percent of votes unless
Tsvangirai’s numbers were higher. She also admitted that
SIPDIS
getting ahold of individual polling agents was difficult,
especially with the phone lines in Zimbabwe being so
unreliable. She fears now that there may be little proof of
MDC votes as most data came in through text messages, but
does not know if this information was captured. She said she
Qdoes not know if this information was captured. She said she
hopes that MDC Headquarters gathered and kept copies of voter
results outside individual polling stations.
———————————
TSVANGIRAI RECEIVES DEATH THREATS
SIPDIS
———————————
¶5. (C) Asked about Tsvangirai’s busy travel schedule, Walters
said that Tsvangirai is still in Johannesburg and has been
receiving death threats. She said some MDC members believe
that Tsvangirai would be killed by the military once he steps
foot back in Harare, but that Tsvangirai feels comfortable
going back. When asked if/when he was returning to Harare,
she said she thinks he should go back, but then quoted MDC
spokesperson Tendai Biti, who apparently said “(Morgan) is
his own man,” implying he’ll return when he wants.
PRETORIA 00000812 002 OF 002
————————
ZERO CONFIDENCE IN MBEKI
————————
¶6. (U) Walters, who was in Lusaka for the SADC conference
with MDC leaders, said that MDC has now lost all confidence
in Mbeki, but that the MDC is pleased with recent ANC
comments, especially from ANC President Jacob Zuma. She
believes the ANC has given Mbeki his marching orders and
could threaten him with a vote of no confidence if Mbeki does
not synchronize his views on Zimbabwe with the ANC
leadership. (NOTE: Members of the ANC national working
committee announced on 15 April that contrary to Mbeki’s
statements at the SADC summit, Zimbabwe is in a crisis
(septel). END NOTE)
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶7. (C) It is no surprise MDC has finally lost all confidence
in Mbeki. After all, Mbeki’s statement during the SADC
conference that “there is no crisis in Zimbabwe” has
unleashed a flurry of editorials worldwide condemning Mbeki
for turning a blind eye. Mbeki’s rivals in the ANC, namely
the Zuma camp, seem to be taking advantage of the situation
while Mbeki is weak. However, whether their vocal support is
genuine or orchestrated, or more importantly, whether their
words can translate into action (i.e., moving Mbeki on
Zimbabwe policy) remains to be seen.
BOST
(100 VIEWS)
