Zimbabwe Elections
Zimbabwe Elections:
Government Hands Off Protesters!
For Labor Political Strikes Against Government Repression!
Opposition party supporters react after police fired tear gas. Picture: AP Source:AP
Many people, mostly the young supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, are protesting against an alleged manipulation of the vote by the elections board in favour of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). This election takes place only months after a military coup that removed Mugabe. Mnangagwa and the then General Chiwenga took power with the support of China. The Government’s rapid resort to live ammunition to dispel street protests against the wishes of the US and EU may indicate that it will use the military to stay in power with the approval of China.
On Wednesday at 1700 hrs GMT “The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced 140 seats for Zanu-PF so far, and 58 for the MDC Alliance, ZBC state media reported. There are 210 seats in the National Assembly’s lower house. A map of the electoral results of the legislative seats show the cities and the western provinces voted strongly for the MDC. This alignment shows the weakness of the ZANU-PF among the workers, the unemployed and street vendors; the base which is taking to the streets.
While the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observers say the elections were largely peaceful and conducted in accordance with the law, the EU/US observers say voter intimidation and media bias contributed to the sense of distrust in the process.
With the legislative results in and the official Presidential results not yet announced, the opposition supporters of the MDC took to the streets in fear that the actual results are being tampered with. The opposition claims to have won the presidential poll. Opposition supporters began protesting early Wednesday marching on ZANU-PF headquarters and challenged the police with sticks and stones while the Police and Army used whips, water cannons and live ammunition on the crowds. There are reports of deaths and injuries from the ongoing clashes. The MDC’s Presidential candidate Chamisa manipulated his supporters in calling on them to celebrate his victory immediately after the vote. He set them up for repression.
Protesters are dismayed that the army, trained to kill and trained for war are being used against the people who are expressing themselves in protest against what appears to be a stolen election. Protests started early Wednesday and three are reported to have been killed with many more injured.
While the working class and poor city dwellers still have illusions in the MDC, the ZANU-PF appears to have maintained its influence in the countryside.
The socialists must find a road to the masses and appeal to the unemployed and workers of Harare to abandon the Chamisa chimera and organise a political movement to unite all workers and oppressed capable of resisting and overthrowing the military backed regime.
Revolutionary socialist workers give no support to the bourgeois MDC or the ZANU-PF. It could be said the working class has no real skin in this contest between competing wings of the ruling class. While we have no faith in the electoral commission or the leading capitalist parties intent to conduct democratic elections, we defend the rights of protesters against state repression. The lesson that the electoral results cannot bring economic solutions to the ongoing crisis or social peace open an opportunity for revolutionary socialists to expose the competing wings of the ruling class and the inter-imperialist class over the wealth of the nation.
Last April, the heroic striking nurses were condemned and fired by the government which precipitated the calling off of the strike by the union leadership. As we wrote at the time:
“The post Mugabe military based coup government is intent on attacking workers to lay the basis for renewed investor confidence and protection of the interests of capitalists. They want to send a clear message that indeed Zimbabwe is open for business and they can guarantee massive profits for their masters. In contrast to the workers and poor masses living from hand to mouth, the bosses and their surrogates are living large and can afford to charter planes for routine medical checkups whilst the masses die due to lack of medicine, proper facilities and money.” – Revolutionary Workers Group-ZIM
The Liaison Committee of Communists (LCC) condemns the state repression and calls on workers to form their own democratic councils and militia to enforce workers democracy and fight for socialism against the twin parties and competing imperialists.
Neither the ZANU-PF nor the MDC will oppose the imperialists and build socialism. We need our own independent workers party to unite the oppressed around the demands of the class for economic justice, democracy and national independence.
The LCC calls on the international working class to come to the defense of the Zimbabwe and African working masses who are under the boot of world imperialism and their own comprador ruling class.
We fight for our Transitional Program for socialist revolution:
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A living Wage! Workers fight for a living wage and better working conditions through mass action controlled by ordinary workers!
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Against the ever rising prices and inflation we demand a sliding scale of wages!
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Against unemployment and destitution we demand a sliding scale of working hours to provide decent jobs for all through massive public works programs to provide housing, education and medical care for all!
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Organise the unorganised! Form unions of the unemployed as fully affiliated unions!
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Workers take back your unions!
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Militant workers to form class struggle caucuses in the unions to fight for this program!
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The government must stop the attack on the vendors!
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Workers to form strike committees to lead the resistance to the growing attacks on the wages and working conditions of the poor and the livelihood of the majority poor!
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Workers to form workers defence guards for defence against state violence!
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A national strike committee to organise and plan for a general strike!
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For a workers government on the basis of the armed people to implement decisions that benefit the workers and the poor!
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Nationalisation of all companies without indemnification to the big shareholders under workers control!
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Land to be distributed to all poor peasants together with a state bank to provide inputs to all small farmers!
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A workers state that defends workers, peasants and the poor masses against the local and foreign capitalists!
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An African socialist revolution as part of the international revolution that alone can guarantee a better life for all!
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A new WORLD PARTY of socialist revolution based on Trotsky’s TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM of 1938 to lead the revolution to end capitalism and open the road to socialism!
Liaison Committee of Communists (LCC), 08/01/2018
Integrating the RWG (Zim), CWG (A/NZ), RWG (BR), CWG (USA)
Revolutionary Workers Group of Zimbabwe (RWG-ZIM)
Email: rwg.zimbabwe@gmail.com
Website: www.rwgzimbabwe.wordpress.com
Revolutionary Worker (Paper of RWG-Zimbabwe)
Communist Workers Group -New Zealand/Aotearoa (CWG-NZ)
Email: cwg006@yahoo.com
Websites: redrave.blogspot.com
livingmarxism.wordpress.com
Class Struggle (Paper of the CWG-NZ)
Revolutionary Workers Group of Brazil (RWG-BR)
Email: gtrevolucionarios1@gmail.com
Site: grupodetrabalhadoresrevolucionrios.wordpress.com
Guerreiro da classe Trabalhadora (Paper of the RWG-BR)
Communist Workers Group – USA (CWG-US):
Email: cwgclasswar@gmail.com
Website: www.cwgusa.org
Class War (Paper of the CWG-US)
