Motions — Zimbabwe—Presidential Election

I move, That this House express outrage that violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe have led Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw from the second round of the election for the presidency scheduled to take place on 27 June; note that Mr Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round, and had strong prospects of victory in a second round had it been free and fair; urge the United Nations Security Council, regional organisations in Africa, and Zimbabwe’s neighbours to work for the holding of free and fair elections; and call on President Robert Mugabe to step down for the good of his country. The results of parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe on 29 March made a change of Government seem possible, giving new hope to the people of a country that has been brought to its knees by a dictatorial regime. The Movement for Democratic Change and others opposed to Mr Mugabe won a majority of seats in the Parliament. Morgan Tsvangirai polled highest among the three presidential candidates, but his vote was reported as falling short of the 50 percent required for victory—a result that was suspect in the eyes of many observers. Since then a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation has been mounted by the Mugabe regime and its security forces against Morgan Tsvangirai’s party and its supporters. At least 80 people are reported to have been killed, but the real figure is likely to be much higher. The Movement for Democratic Change officials at a seminar in Pretoria on 20 June said they believed the figure could be closer to 1,000.

In addition to those killed, very large numbers of people have been beaten, tortured, maimed, detained, or driven from their homes; State hospitals refuse to accept Movement for Democratic Change patients for fear of reprisals; many victims are in rural areas and are unable to get to any hospital, State or private; physical intimidation is being accompanied by other means; all food supplies are controlled by troops; there are stringent restrictions on the movement of people; and access to rural areas where much of the violence occurs is very difficult.

The entire Movement for Democratic Change elections directorate is in hiding. There are arrest warrants out against a number of the Movement for Democratic Change MPs in addition to those who have already been detained. Last Friday a magistrate ruled that the Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general must stand trial on treason and related charges, which seem to have been laid simply to prevent him from carrying out his party functions. The regime has also imposed limitations on the numbers of international election observers and denied access to observers from Western countries such as ours. In response to criticism of the political violence and associated human rights abuses, President Mugabe has reported to have said that only God could remove him from office.

Against this background, Mr Tsvangirai concluded on Sunday that he could not reasonably ask the citizens of Zimbabwe to place themselves in harm’s way by urging them to vote. On 23 June he announced that he was withdrawing from the second round election scheduled for later this week. Yesterday the Movement for Democratic Change’s headquarters in Harare were raided by security forces. This morning it has been reported that Mr Tsvangirai has sought refuge in the embassy of the Netherlands in Harare.

For some time now the Southern African Development Community has supported a course of attempted mediation by the President of South Africa between the parties in Zimbabwe. While there is a zero trust environment between those parties and no evidence that President Mugabe sees merit in a negotiated settlement, that cannot succeed. Now a number of those Southern African Development Community leaders, publicly and privately, are calling upon President Mugabe to rein in the violence and allow a free and fair election to proceed. Similar calls have been made by African leaders further afield—for example, by the president of Nigeria—and by the leaders of the Nordic States, the European Union, the United States, Australia, and, of course, New Zealand.

Today the United Nations Security Council considered the disastrous situation in Zimbabwe. It condemned the violence against the political opposition and the actions of the Government of Zimbabwe. It regretted that those actions had made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place. It also expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe and the impact of the situation on the wider region. It called on the Zimbabwean authorities to cooperate fully with efforts to find a way forward through dialogue, in order to allow a legitimate Government to be formed that reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe. The New Zealand Government fully endorses the presidential statement issued by the Security Council. We send a strong message to President Mugabe and leave him and his supporters under no illusions about the widespread international abhorrence of their outrageous violations of the rights of Zimbabwe’s people. The New Zealand Government has made its position on the tragedy in Zimbabwe very clear. Mr Mugabe, his regime, and its actions are abhorrent to us. We are consulting other countries now about what further measures many of us might put in place against the regime.

Zimbabwe has suffered enormously under Robert Mugabe’s presidency. A once prosperous country has been bankrupted, and a once vibrant society has been intimidated and cowered. In its place is a repressive regime run for the benefit of a few, under which human rights abuses are the norm. The results of the parliamentary election in March, and of the first round of the presidential election, expressed a clear demand for change. Mr Mugabe should accept the verdict of his people and stand down.

I rise to support the motion moved by the Prime Minister that places on record the grave concerns of this Parliament regarding the situation in Zimbabwe, and calls upon the nations of southern Africa to intensify their efforts to find a solution.

Over recent weeks New Zealanders have witnessed on their television screens and in other media the appalling atrocities unleashed on the Zimbabwe people by the Mugabe Government. The ever-escalating level of violence has led to the decision of the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, in the last 2 days, to withdraw from the presidential contest. It is unlikely that Mr Tsvangirai had much choice about that, in an environment where he, his colleagues, their supporters, and their families were being targeted by thugs licensed by the Mugabe regime, where ballot rigging had become widespread, and where the current regime had made it clear that it would not relinquish power, whatever the outcome of the election. In the words of a former judge of the Zimbabwe High Court on New Zealand television last night, this regime has declared war on its own people.

For us in this country, the terrible scenes of violence have additional meaning. New Zealand is now home to over 8,000 Zimbabweans, people who have moved here to escape an imploding economy and serious risk to their personal safety. Many of those new New Zealanders have friends and families remaining in Zimbabwe. For them these are gut-wrenching times, and our hearts go out to them today.

For me there is only one word that encapsulates the disaster that Zimbabwe has become. That word is “tragedy”. That one of the most prosperous, fertile, productive countries in Africa could be reduced, through the deliberate actions of its Government, to being the total basket case that Zimbabwe has become today is surely both an economic and a humanitarian tragedy. That a nation that has enjoyed a democratically elected Parliament, independent courts, and all of the trappings of a parliamentary democracy should sink to becoming one of the most repressive, violent regimes on Earth is surely a human tragedy of serious proportions.

There is a sense of powerlessness felt by those of us in this part of the world that we can so easily see pictures of such appalling brutality on our screens yet be so incapable of doing anything meaningful to stop it. For those of us in this Chamber today, it is sobering to be reminded that it is those whose crime has been to stand for parliamentary office, and their families, who have been the targets of some of the worst atrocities.

It has been disappointing, to say the least, that some of Zimbabwe’s African neighbours, and other nations like China, have been prepared to provide cover for the Mugabe regime in the face of mounting international concern. Today we must send a clear message to the Mugabe regime that its contempt for the rule of law, its abuse of the democratic process, and its brutality against its own people are totally abhorrent, utterly despicable, and absolutely unacceptable to all decent, civilised citizens of the world. What we have seen on our television screens in recent days is the result of nothing less than State-sanctioned butchery and murder.

Today we must also send a clear message to those other nations that have been prepared to run interference and provide support for the Mugabe regime, both in Africa and on the councils of international bodies like the United Nations. For them to continue to provide cover for this disgraceful regime is to share responsibility for the situation that now ensues. To President Mbeki of South Africa, in particular, we would send the clearest of messages: the time has come to stop pretending and to stop defending. Alone amongst the Governments of the world, South Africa has the capacity—if it has the will—to bring the ugly stand-off in Zimbabwe to an end. That is what the world now expects and demands.

These days are sad for Africa. These days are a tragedy for Zimbabwe. So today the National Party joins other political parties in condemning the outrageous actions of Robert Mugabe and his henchmen, and in calling on those who have it within their power to bring change to now face up to their responsibilities.

The decision of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, to withdraw from the second round of the presidential elections in Zimbabwe follows a deepening crisis affecting that country. We must respect his decision. It has been made in the context of increasing violence, intimidation, and murder directed against his supporters, and, most probably, against the background of his having won the first round, despite all the flaws and manipulation in respect of that election.

There can be no fair election when violence prevents people from exercising their right to choose a Government. All indications are that the violence is one-sided, and is being perpetrated by groups linked to Zimbabwe’s security forces and the ruling party, ZANU-PF. So far, at least 85 Movement for Democratic Change members have been victims of targeted killings, while several thousand innocent citizens have been injured and thousands more either displaced or unlawfully detained.

New Zealand strongly condemns this blatant violence and blatant violation of the democratic process. The results of the elections on 29 March demonstrated that Zimbabweans want change. Mr Tsvangirai’s withdrawal from the second round of voting is a serious, desperate blow to their hopes. Mugabe has completely lost the confidence of Zimbabwe’s people, who once welcomed him as a liberator. Recent statements made by prominent African leaders have confirmed that they, too, find his behaviour intolerable.

The next few days are, therefore, critical. We look to African leaders, including President Mbeki of South Africa, to engage with real strength and resolve in efforts to bring this crisis to an end. We wish to reiterate New Zealand’s unwavering support for the efforts of African organisations, particularly the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, to hold Mugabe’s regime to account. The United Nations Security Council today has discussed the situation in Zimbabwe, and New Zealand welcomes the Security Council’s condemnation of the Mugabe regime’s campaign of violence, which has been delivered in the strongest possible terms. New Zealand will continue to work with the UN and like-minded countries to determine a way out of the current impasse. Zimbabwe has suffered deeply under the current regime. It is an absolute and total tragedy. For the country now to have any chance to develop and prosper, and have peace, democracy, and stability, is a decision that the rest of the world—but most particularly the neighbourhood in which Zimbabweans live—must resolve and act upon.

The Green Party fully supports the Prime Minister’s motion, and we are pleased that it has incorporated some of the Green Party’s motion that was to be moved today. The Mugabe regime has been an utter disaster for the people of Zimbabwe and has been able to survive for so long only because of support from some neighbouring countries, particularly the Mbeki Government in South Africa. We are very glad that is now changing.

It is clear that free and fair elections cannot be held purely under the auspices of the Mugabe dictatorship, and the resolution before us is right in calling for Robert Mugabe to step down as President. Whether or not that happens immediately, I think the world must at the very least insist that the regime allow in a peacekeeping force tasked with stopping rampaging thugs from intimidating supporters of the Opposition, and also with establishing a climate in which fair elections can be held. Although such peacekeepers, be they military or police, would predominantly come from African countries, I think it would be a good gesture and would be welcomed by the people of Zimbabwe if New Zealand offered to contribute to such a force. There must also be international monitors inside any electoral process in order for the elections to be truly free. Last time, the Mugabe regime stopped Zimbabwe’s electoral commission from releasing the result of the presidential election for some weeks, and there was very much doubt as to whether it was an accurate result. As the Prime Minister has just said, it may well be that the Opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, actually won that election.

The world cannot stand idly by while the people of Zimbabwe suffer so much under the heel of the dictatorship. It is our responsibility in every international forum—and I am glad that the Prime Minister and the other speakers have talked about this—and in any forums where we have links, particularly with the Government of South Africa, to press the United Nations and the Commonwealth for very strong action. The world has dallied enough and let the Zimbabwe people descend into the abyss. We must help them at this critical time.

In October 2007 we in the Māori Party met with leading Zimbabwe political figure Sekai Holland. The meeting had a profound effect on us all. We heard in graphic detail about the extreme violence that had characterised the attacks of 11 March. We learnt about the fatal shooting of Mr Gift Tandare, youth chair of the National Constitutional Assembly in Harare. We heard of the numbers of members from the Movement for Democratic Change who were assaulted and taken into custody, including Sekai Holland herself. So we come to this discussion today knowing too of the fresh violence in Zimbabwe, in which again it is reported that Morgan Tsvangirai and the supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change are being targeted. But we have learnt, too, of the willingness of Morgan Tsvangirai to be open to negotiation with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, on the condition that the violence cease.

So we rise to speak to the motion, reminding ourselves of the emphasis on manaakitanga—manaakitanga in which the interests of other nations are considered, and manaakitanga as demonstrated when we respect other nations and their peoples for their ability and capacity to find solutions that come forth from their own unique culture and indigenous approaches. We know that the African nations have indicated that mediation and talks are important in the pursuit of reconciliation and liberation. They are committed to a better Zimbabwe and they know that liberation will involve all leaders of the Southern African Development Community working together. We recall an honourable initiative taken previously by the Southern African Development Community in bringing together Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and other member nations to talk, to listen, and to negotiate.

We have learnt of the emphasis being given by both the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to discuss what they can do together to cease the political violence, and we remember the calls that have come from the Movement for Democratic Change and many of the peoples of Zimbabwe, for the United Nations to give urgent priority for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, and we endorse the call for President Mugabe to step down.

The issues confronting Zimbabwe are indeed substantial, as are the issues in the conflict for the Tibetan people in China, the conflicts that are occurring in Myanmar, Turkey, Iran, and so we could go on. In condemning the violence in Zimbabwe we must have confidence that the people can determine their own solutions, but we should also speak in order for these people to have a voice.

History tells us that unless the peoples of the land are involved in determining their solutions to conflict, peace will always be fragile and temporary. We absolutely agree that the international world must have a strong opinion in condemning any abuse of human rights and democratic freedom, but long-term reconciliation is best settled by those people themselves. We support the motion as a vote of confidence in the people who struggle in defence of their human rights and democratic freedoms every day, and we condemn any regime based on violence. We know that the hope of the people in Zimbabwe and their sister nations is for long-term peace and legitimate leadership that embodies what we value as tino rangatiratanga. Thank you.

United Future unreservedly endorses the resolution that the Prime Minister has moved, but we cannot let this occasion pass without observing that the awful series of events now unfolding in Zimbabwe does not come as any great surprise and is not a great triumph for international diplomacy.

For years people in Zimbabwe have been warning of this rapid slide towards anarchy and towards terror in that country, yet for years international institutions have chosen to turn what is effectively a very blind eye to that situation. I welcome the involvement of the United Nations Security Council today, but it is too late. The efforts that the Commonwealth has taken over the years have been a little bit too gentle to make real change, and the attitude of the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, demonstrates a lack of touch with reality that really does not befit his status. None of these things condones the violence, the butchery, and the abhorrence of democracy that the Mugabe regime has demonstrated, but they do point a finger at our collective conscience, at our failure as free and democratic countries to act soon enough to prevent Zimbabwe’s descent down this path.

I admire the courage of Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters in all that they have had to endure since the March election, but they have endured that terror day in and day out for years now. The violence has been escalating in all that time. The warnings have been ignored. The message must surely be that all of us in this Parliament, the United Nations, and the Commonwealth, and the peoples of southern Africa, have got to take much more responsibility for having let this intolerable situation develop to the point where it is today. Zimbabwe depends on its ability to trade with others. It depends on its interaction with the international community. We say now that the responsibility lies with South Africa, and that it should do all it can to bring this regime to heel. We have that responsibility, we have had it, and we have ignored the opportunity to take it. So although I think this resolution is important—and I hope that it will be supported by similar resolutions by other Parliaments around the world—we have to do a little bit of head-hanging-in-shame at having allowed this situation to develop to this point.

I hope that our efforts this time will succeed in the removal of the dictator. I am mindful of a similar situation some 60 years ago in Europe, where continued appeasement and the passage of general resolutions did not result in the removal of the dictators, but simply resulted in more human misery and suffering along the way. I hope that this time a more successful outcome can be achieved. I hope that the people of Zimbabwe, whose long national nightmare continues, can soon look forward to some relief, but I do not have a great deal of confidence on that score.

The Progressive party has no hesitation in supporting the Prime Minister’s motion and no hesitation in standing alongside human rights and democracy. On Saturday I joined others in Christchurch on a vigil in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. Among us were some of the 7,000 former Zimbabweans who have made their homes here in New Zealand. Many who would have been there were not because they were fearful of their families being brutally targeted back in Zimbabwe. My sympathy and my support go out to them as they look at the shocking violence in the country of their birth. They are watching as the world watches the political violence and killing, the intimidation, the strangling of the Zimbabwean economy, and the crushing of democratic freedom. They are watching as Mr Mugabe has the breathtaking gall to show up at a global conference on food in Rome, which I attended a few weeks ago, to lecture the rest of the world. I had no difficulty in choosing to skip that outrage.

Last year one of the most notable books about global poverty ever written was released. It was written by an Oxford University academic and former World Bank economist Paul Collier. He looked closely at the causes of extreme poverty around the world. He found very clear patterns. The poorest people in the world invariably live in countries that are cut off from trade with the rest of the world, countries that are devastated by violence, particularly war, and countries where corruption is rampant. Mr Mugabe has done a tragically good job of importing all of those conditions to Zimbabwe. The use of violence to shore up his faltering authority tears at the fabric of the country, and his corrupt vote-rigging has destroyed the opportunity for Zimbabwe to change course. Land confiscations and poorly designed price controls led the economy to contract and exports to falter. Mr Mugabe’s Government responded by printing money, which has led to hyperinflation, and the economy is imploding, isolating it still further.

Paul Collier also identified that the world can make a huge difference to the fortunes of countries like Zimbabwe. He showed that pressure from the outside can lead countries towards the sunlight of democratic freedom. So I want to express my disappointment that the United Nations has not made a stronger statement of condemnation about Mr Mugabe and could not call on him to stand down. I am disappointed also at Zimbabwe’s southern neighbour. Those who, under pressure, stood alongside South Africa’s repressed majority and helped to bring freedom to that country and end apartheid now look to Thabo Mbeki to display some moral leadership and call for change in Zimbabwe.

This whole episode shows the need for the world to agree on a standard of behaviour and a process for intervening when countries go rogue. In recent years international law has extended to look through sovereign immunity and hold to account former leaders for criminal behaviour. It is logical, therefore, that the world should intervene against dreadful Governments when they cling to power. This motion in Parliament condemning Robert Mugabe’s regime and calling for change is a beginning, because if we want to rid the world of dreadful Governments, we have to speak out. We have to be a beacon for Zimbabwe’s people in the dark hours of this nightmare they are going through. We are telling them that they are not alone and they are not forgotten. We stand alongside them because I think we in New Zealand have the strength to care for people like Zimbabweans, just as we should be strong enough to care for each other here at home. So we say from this Parliament to Zimbabwe’s people: as you try under almost impossible odds to march towards democracy and towards being a free country, we in New Zealand will stand with you.

Motion agreed to.