News / National
Tsvangirai offered all turned away voters
09 Aug 2013 at 03:44hrs | Views
THE number of assisted voters and those turned away during the July 31 harmonised elections is so insignificant that embattled MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai would still have lost to President Mugabe by a wide margin even if the people he claims to be his had voted for him, figures released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday show.
Mr Tsvangirai is making claims that a huge number of people were disenfranchised of their right to vote after they were turned away, while he also claimed many more were assisted to vote, but without giving any official figures.
He further made claims that President Mugabe's victory was helped by assisted voters whom he alleged were forced to vote for Zanu-PF despite the presence of electoral agents from his party at every polling station.
Contrary to MDC-T claims that over 700 000 voters were turned away in Harare alone, official figures from ZEC show that only 304 890 were turned away for various reasons countrywide, while 206 901 were assisted to vote.
Assuming that assisted voters and those turned away were going to vote for Mr Tsvangirai, the outgoing Prime Minister would still have lost dismally to President Mugabe.
The combined figure of assisted voters and those who were turned away translate to 511 791, which is not enough to overturn President Mugabe's bullish victory if added to Mr Tsvangirai's tally.
The MDC-T leader polled 1 172 349 votes and if the assisted votes and those turned away were to be added to his initial votes, the beleaguered MDC-T leader would get 1 684 140.
President Mugabe would be left with 1 903 533 votes if the number of assisted votes was to be subtracted from his 2 110 434.
Many of the voters turned away could have eventually cast their vote at the appropriate polling stations after they initially went to the wrong ones.
The Centre for Elections and Democracy in Southern Africa said most urban voters turned up on wrong wards, but were subsequently advised by electoral officials of their correct wards in which they belonged to where they eventually voted.
Cedsa director, Mr Jealousy Mawarire, who won an application compelling the holding of harmonised elections on July 31, said his organisation deployed over 500 observers on Election Day countrywide.
"Cedsa also noted that most voters, especially in urban areas, were not aware of their particular wards and most pitched up to vote at polling stations in wrong wards and for this reason, were advised to visit their correct wards to vote. Most of these voters were then recorded as having been turned away notwithstanding the fact that most of them would eventually vote once they found a polling station in the correct ward," said Mr Mawarire in a statement.
Analysts argued that Mr Tsvangirai was just trying to "hide behind the finger" by basing his election rigging allegations on the number of assisted voters and those turned away.
"If you add those numbers and give them to him (Mr Tsvangirai), he was still going to lose and President Mugabe was going to get about 54 percent of the total vote cast," said a University of Zimbabwe lecturer who refused to be named.
"After all, who said all the people who were assisted to vote cast their votes in favour of Zanu-PF and those who were turned away were going to vote for Mr Tsvangirai?
"Assuming that those who were turned away were going to vote for President Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai's loss was going to be even more humiliating."
Despite Mr Tsvangirai's alleged rigging, his traditional allies, locally and in the media, are piercing him as a failed leader.
International Socialist Organisation leader and former MDC-T legislator Mr Munyaradzi Gwisai on Wednesday said MDC-T would suffer a gradual "terminal decline" if it does not carry out an "ideological and leadership" overhaul.
A British paper, The Telegraph, this week also thrashed Mr Tsvangirai, saying his short stint in Government exposed his immeasurable shortcomings as a leader.
"When not making empty threats, Tsvangirai can say things that are plain foolish," the paper, known to support Mr Tsvangirai's party, roared.
"I could cite the occasion in 2000 when he talked about toppling (President) Mugabe 'violently', thereby handing the regime an opportunity to charge him with treason."
Observers said Mr Tsvangirai was heading for a major embarrassment in the courts if he approached them with pedestrian arguments.
This, they argued, would expose the Western sponsored party for its lack of depth since indications are that it will depend on street gossip and hard to substantiate claims to back its application.
Mr Tsvangirai is making claims that a huge number of people were disenfranchised of their right to vote after they were turned away, while he also claimed many more were assisted to vote, but without giving any official figures.
He further made claims that President Mugabe's victory was helped by assisted voters whom he alleged were forced to vote for Zanu-PF despite the presence of electoral agents from his party at every polling station.
Contrary to MDC-T claims that over 700 000 voters were turned away in Harare alone, official figures from ZEC show that only 304 890 were turned away for various reasons countrywide, while 206 901 were assisted to vote.
Assuming that assisted voters and those turned away were going to vote for Mr Tsvangirai, the outgoing Prime Minister would still have lost dismally to President Mugabe.
The combined figure of assisted voters and those who were turned away translate to 511 791, which is not enough to overturn President Mugabe's bullish victory if added to Mr Tsvangirai's tally.
The MDC-T leader polled 1 172 349 votes and if the assisted votes and those turned away were to be added to his initial votes, the beleaguered MDC-T leader would get 1 684 140.
President Mugabe would be left with 1 903 533 votes if the number of assisted votes was to be subtracted from his 2 110 434.
Many of the voters turned away could have eventually cast their vote at the appropriate polling stations after they initially went to the wrong ones.
The Centre for Elections and Democracy in Southern Africa said most urban voters turned up on wrong wards, but were subsequently advised by electoral officials of their correct wards in which they belonged to where they eventually voted.
Cedsa director, Mr Jealousy Mawarire, who won an application compelling the holding of harmonised elections on July 31, said his organisation deployed over 500 observers on Election Day countrywide.
"Cedsa also noted that most voters, especially in urban areas, were not aware of their particular wards and most pitched up to vote at polling stations in wrong wards and for this reason, were advised to visit their correct wards to vote. Most of these voters were then recorded as having been turned away notwithstanding the fact that most of them would eventually vote once they found a polling station in the correct ward," said Mr Mawarire in a statement.
Analysts argued that Mr Tsvangirai was just trying to "hide behind the finger" by basing his election rigging allegations on the number of assisted voters and those turned away.
"If you add those numbers and give them to him (Mr Tsvangirai), he was still going to lose and President Mugabe was going to get about 54 percent of the total vote cast," said a University of Zimbabwe lecturer who refused to be named.
"After all, who said all the people who were assisted to vote cast their votes in favour of Zanu-PF and those who were turned away were going to vote for Mr Tsvangirai?
"Assuming that those who were turned away were going to vote for President Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai's loss was going to be even more humiliating."
Despite Mr Tsvangirai's alleged rigging, his traditional allies, locally and in the media, are piercing him as a failed leader.
International Socialist Organisation leader and former MDC-T legislator Mr Munyaradzi Gwisai on Wednesday said MDC-T would suffer a gradual "terminal decline" if it does not carry out an "ideological and leadership" overhaul.
A British paper, The Telegraph, this week also thrashed Mr Tsvangirai, saying his short stint in Government exposed his immeasurable shortcomings as a leader.
"When not making empty threats, Tsvangirai can say things that are plain foolish," the paper, known to support Mr Tsvangirai's party, roared.
"I could cite the occasion in 2000 when he talked about toppling (President) Mugabe 'violently', thereby handing the regime an opportunity to charge him with treason."
Observers said Mr Tsvangirai was heading for a major embarrassment in the courts if he approached them with pedestrian arguments.
This, they argued, would expose the Western sponsored party for its lack of depth since indications are that it will depend on street gossip and hard to substantiate claims to back its application.
Source - herald
