Hope for a democratic Zimbabwe?

President Robert Mugabe has been the president of Zimbabwe since the state was granted independence in 1980. The 88 year old president has anything but a clean past with running a state with free and fair democratic elections. Accordingly, he denies the countless accusations and insists that he has never rigged previous elections in Zimbabwe. However, there have been numerous reports that rival party, Movement for Democratic Change, won the 2005 election with the majority of the vote yet failed to take power. Unfortunately for the MDC, violence and intimidating quickly stopped these "lies". Then in 2008, leader Morgan Tsvangirai backed out of running, due to attacks on his supporters from Mugabe's armies and militias. More recently, violence from Mugabe has slowed and talk of a new election with a new constitution has come about. 

Mugabe and the MDC have agreed on a "power-sharing government", mostly due to the lack of growth in Zimbabwe's economy. In order to avoid a repeat of the 2008 unfair and unfree elections, Tsvangirai, with support of South African mediators, is pushing for a new constitution before the next election. By-elections for empty seats were supposed to happen this past August, and then put off to October 1st. Yet now, Mugabe claims that these elections will cost too much with more important elections coming up soon. By saying this, Mugabe is hinting toward actual (perhaps free and fair?) elections that Zimbabwe has been waiting for, well, since Mugabe took power. Supposedly there will be an election held between Mugabe and Tsvangirai this next year in March 2013.

This issue is incredibly relevant to our class discussions from these past couple of weeks, concerning post-independent authoritarian regimes and attempts to democratize a state. We see Zimbabwe and question if they are a democratic state. From the reading "Emerging Democracies", Radelet discusses three important requirements for democracy: the transition for an individual "big man" in power to institutionalization of power, enforced civil liberties and political rights for citizens, and growth in civil society groups, NGOs, etc. When we look at Zimbabwe, there is still a "big man" in power (hint: Mugabe), there are civil liberties and rights because we see the public allowed to vote-yet there is evidence that elections are rigged, and there is an absent of major growth in the above groups. Perhaps Zimbabwe is pushing toward actual consolidated democratization and perhaps if elections that Mugabe alluded to in March will be the next step. Only time will tell. 

Sources:

"Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe hints at March election" BBC News. 28 Sept 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19741673.

Freedom in the World 2012: "Zimbabwe" Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/zimbabwe.

"Emerging Democracies" Emerging Africa. Radelet 2010.