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President Robert Mugabe's party narrowly won parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe.
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Background on Zimbabwe from the Norwegian Council for Africa

Zimbabwe's Democracy
Updated March 13, 2002

Up until a few years ago, Zimbabwe was one of the most prosperous and democratic nations in Africa. It was the envy of many other African countries.

Today, it faces overwhelming poverty and numerous reports of abuses and murders of its own citizens. Almost 60 percent of the residents are unemployed and nearly a third of all adults are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has just won another 6-year term in an election tainted by violence and unfair voting practices that robbed thousands of Zimbabweans of their votes, according to some international observers.

Election Results

On Wednesday, the official election organization announced the final count:

1,685,212 votes for Robert Mugabe
1,258,401 for his main opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai.

The head of elections said just over three million people, out of the registered 5.6 million electorate, cast their votes. He said several thousand votes were spoiled but did not give an exact figure.

Tsvangirai said his Movement for Democratic Change would not accept the result.

"The election results do not reflect the true will of the people of Zimbabwe and are consequently illegitimate," Mr. Tsvangirai said.

But he added: "We seek no confrontation with the state, because that is what it is looking for. We foresaw electoral fraud but not daylight robbery."

The Zimbabwe security forces were put on high alert and built roadblocks around Harare, the capital.

An Unfair Election

During the three day election, few polling stations were open in the cities, where Mugabe is unpopular. Voters stood for hours in long lines and were not able to cast their vote when the polls closed Monday night.

Police broke up the lines and arrested several people who tried to vote at the last minute.

In contrast, the government opened new polling stations in the rural areas where Mugabe is well-liked.

Election observers from neighboring South Africa said Mugabe's reelection was legitimate, saying long lines and chaotic delays were "administrative oversights."

But other observer missions faulted the result and the way the election was conducted. "There is no way these elections could be described as free and fair," the Zimbabwean Election Support Network, a local monitoring group, said.

The Troubles in Zimbabwe

In the 22 years that Robert Mugabe has been president of Zimbabwe, he has never faced serious opposition until this election.

President Mugabe's main opponent in the election, Morgan Tsvangirai, was charged with treason but not arrested. Tsvangirai said the charges were a transparent ploy to hurt his chances of winning the election and many international authorities agreed.

Mugabe also kicked out some reporters and refused to let other news agencies into the country. When the European Union (EU) sent observers to ensure the election would be fair, the Mugabe government expelled them.

This prompted the EU to impose sanctions on Mugabe and his top associates. Shortly after, the United States also criticized the government.

Zimbabwe's History

Located in southeastern Africa, Zimbabwe was a British colony called Rhodesia before it achieved independence from Great Britain in 1980.

Mugabe was one of the most famous leaders in Zimbabwe's fight for independence. He became its first president and at the beginning, he enjoyed great respect from much of the world, especially his African neighbors.

But in the last couple of years, Mugabe has been criticized for a failing economy and failed land reform.

Because Zimbabwe was a colony of Great Britain, many more white people owned farms than black people. After independence, the white farmers continued to work the land and make money selling crops.

But many blacks argued that the land did not belong to the white farmers in the first place. And even though the white farmers were born in Zimbabwe, Mugabe began a program of redistributing the property to blacks.

Recently, self-proclaimed veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence have been attacking white farm-owners and their employees, sometimes killing them, and occupying the land.

Mugabe has expressed his approval of this practice, Zimbabwe's courts as well as other countries and organizations around the world agree the practice is wrong. However, Europe and America have been reluctant to get involved, saying that the first people to get involved should be Zimbabwe's neighbors, such as South Africa.

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has been much more reluctant to criticize Mugabe than many had hoped, partially because he is still respected as a hero of the independence movement.

However, Zimbabwe's economy has been struggling for the past three years because of issues including the farm seizures, which have caused food shortages, and other problems.

With one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, Zimbabwe has an ongoing health crisis.

In addition, nearly three million dollars a week is spent sending troops to a war in nearby Congo.

International aid and investments have been few, partly due to the widespread belief of corruption and lack of confidence in President Mugabe's administration.

Inflation is out of control, and over half the population is living in poverty.

The power of youth

Of the 12 million people in Zimbabwe, only half are over the age of 18. Therefore, many of the young people in Zimbabwe have no memory of living as a British colony or of Mugabe's leadership in the war for independence.

They are, however, suffering heavily from the current economic situation, which leaves them with no jobs and, as a result, no money. Even when they have money, grocery stores are often lacking the basic food they wish to buy.

So instead of looking at Mugabe as a hero, they are worried about trying to get their lives started. Many of them see Mugabe as corrupt and as responsible for the condition of their country and their lives.

To try and eliminate some of this opposition, Mugabe passed a law requiring voters to prove that they own or rent their own home or have the utilities listed in their name. But with the economy being so poor, many young people can't afford their own homes.

There have been protests and violence that have injured and sometimes killed supporters of the opposition party. Many in Zimbabwe are afraid to openly oppose their government.

What do you think? What would you do if you were a citizen of Zimbabwe at this critical time?