Britain: The ruling party in Zimbabwe

BRITAIN

The Independent, London, April 1: The silence from the ruling party in Zimbabwe could mean one of two things. It might mean that a massive rigging operation is taking place at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to turn around what looks like a resounding electoral defeat for President Robert Mugabe and make it look like he has just scraped past the 51 per cent of the vote needed to avoid a second round of voting, and give his party a majority in parliament. Or it might be that the ruling elite is engaged in a frantic process of negotiation over who will tell the ageing despot that the time has come when he really does have to step down. We can be hopeful it is the latter.

Previous elections

Mr. Mugabe has fiddled the result in at least two previous elections, in 2002 and 2005. But things are different this time. The Mugabe regime can stay in power only with a heavy show of force from the army and police, whose chiefs were, as recently as Sunday evening, publicly declaring that they would not allow a victory by (opposition leader Morgan) Tsvangarai.

The leader of neighboring African countries must now make clear that the will of the Zimbabwean people must be upheld. The opposition must not be persuaded to go to the courts, a strategy they tried last time without success. Nor is there now a case of international mediation of the kind that Kofi Annan conducted in Kenya, where so many ballot boxes were destroyed that it was impossible to know the outcome of the poll. The vote in Zimbabwe has already been recorded locally.

TAIWAN

Taipei Times, April 2: As dozens of protesting monks interrupted a group of foreign journalists being escorted through Lhasa last Thursday, one thing was made amply clear: Despite what China says, the situation in Tibet is not under control.

Once again, Beijing is devastating its own credibility a la “SARS 2003” by denying any legitimate causes for discontent and depicting Tibetan unrest as unprovoked “terrorist” attacks coordinated by the Dalai Lama.

Labor camps

Compared with many government responses to the situation in Myanmar only six months earlier, the West is saying disappointingly little about why Tibetan monks would be willing to risk their personal freedoms by marching on the street, an action that can mean years in China’s extrajudicial laogai — or re-education through labor — camps.

Never before had democratic countries been so reliant on a single authoritarian regime than they are on China in today’s globalized economy. If the result is that governments increasingly refrain from criticizing oppressive regimes, their talk of promoting universal human rights will become mere guff.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Belfast Telegraph, March 28: President Nicolas Sarkozy could scarcely have made a better impression on his hosts during his first state visit to Britain.

Although he is viewed with some suspicion back home, he said all the right things during his historic address to both Houses of Parliament. Britain laid on the pomp as only it can do and he responded by laying on the charm as only the French can do.

But it was President Sarkozy’s views on current relationships which were the most startling. He appeared to signal a desire for a new axis of power in Europe, with Britain and France standing together much more closely to influence events not only on the continent but also globally. Just how his comments will have been received by France’s longstanding ally in Europe, Germany, is open to question.

Cooperation

France and Britain, he said, should work together to tackle issues such as energy, immigration, security and defense, and he pledged more troops to aid NATO forces in Afghanistan.