April 25, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1429

WASHINGTON: Words are deadly in today’s Zimbabwe. “Winner”, “recount”, “treason” and “democracy” carry barbs and built-in explosives. Ordinary Zimbabweans are suffering at the hands of an authoritarian regime with no sense of proportion or timing, a dictatorship with no scruples.

First, we are being led to believe that my party, the Movement for Democratic Change, was not the winner of the March 29 election. The world is expected to believe that the results are not only inconclusive but also somehow wrong. According to Robert Mugabe’s regime, “winner” means that the MDC has garnered votes to which it has no right and that his party lost out only through unfair means.

This ignores reality. If any party has been denied votes by foul means, it is the MDC. But in today’s Zimbabwe, “recount” means “stalling for more time”.

Intimidation and stuffing of ballot boxes are common practices of Mugabe’s government. In fact, the regime has no qualms about demanding a recount when the results have still not been fully released, raising questions as to just what are the grounds for a recount.

In the tense aftermath of the election, those who acted upon their convictions and voted their consciences, in hopes of establishing a true democracy, have been branded as threats to the state. Panicked government officials are bullying voters thought to have cast ballots for my party. Already, casualty numbers are rising. The accusation of treason has also been hurled at me. “Treason” means I am unable to return home for fear of my life. But while I am used to these sorts of abuses from Mugabe, we cannot allow the truth to be concealed.

Mugabe has attempted to sell the belief that this election was democratic and that Zimbabwe is a functional democracy.

Let us take a closer look at democracy, Mugabe-style: His is a “democracy” of votes obtained through violence and intimidation. This is a “democracy” in which freedom is a faded banner, waved occasionally over the heads of a battered people, and not the central foundation of a free nation. This is a “democracy” built on human rights abuses, corruption, denial, widespread injustice and the deaths of innocents.

Mugabe’s “democracy” is a hollowed-out shell, and in his Zimbabwe, the term “democracy” means “denial of truth”.

The world must know: There is an all-out crisis in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, South African President Thabo Mbeki has sought to deny this truth, despite all evidence to the contrary. Given his status as leader of the region’s major power, Mbeki’s bizarre analysis has underpinned inaction not only in Africa but also elsewhere in the world.

Thankfully, wiser heads in South Africa’s ruling party and elsewhere have sought to marginalize Mbeki’s disinformation. Those of us struggling for true democracy in Zimbabwe hope that quiet diplomacy is being replaced by a more active approach.

As that diplomatic process generates further discussion and assessment, we who support democracy in Zimbabwe can only hope that the Mugabe regime’s actions are soon shown for what they are: attacks on democracy itself. —Dawn/ LAT-WP News Service © The Washington Post

Morgan Tsvangirai is leader of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe.