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'Zimbabwe Has Become a Litmus Test for African Democracy'

The decision by the opposition party MDC to pull out of this week's election in Zimbabwe doesn't come as much of a surprise, given recent state-sponsored violence. German media commentators argue that Africa's leaders should start to exert real pressure on Mugabe.

It seems Zimbabwe's ruler President Robert Mugabe got what he wanted: He is going to cling on to power after Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), decided to pull out of this week's presidential election run-off due to state-sponsored violence.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced Sunday that the MDC would withdraw from Friday's election, as they were not prepared to ask people to risk their lives by voting for the party. "We can't ask the people to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote will cost their lives," Tsvangirai said at a news conference in Zimbabwe's capital Harare. "We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election."

The MDC's decision came after at least 86 opposition activists have been murdered by Mugabe's Zanu-PF militia and security forces, and thousands of MDC supporters have been tortured and raped.

Despite the withdrawal of the opposition, the ruling Zanu-PF party pledged to go ahead with the poll. Mugabe's justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, ridiculed Tsvangirai's announcement in Monday's edition of the state-run newspaper Herald. "Zanu-PF is not treating the threats seriously -- it is a nullity," he said. "We are proceeding with our campaign to romp to victory on Friday."

The opposition MDC won the first round of the presidential election on March 29, but failed to gain an outright majority against Mugabe. The MDC's move now paves the way for Mugabe to extend his 28-year-rule of the country, during which Zimbabwe's once-thriving economy has been run into the ground.

Media commentators writing in Germany's newspapers Monday said it was understandable the MDC thought it had to pull out of the election. They added that it was high time African leaders stood up to Mugabe.

The financial daily Handelsblatt writes:

"All hopes of a free and fair election were destroyed a long time ago. So, it comes as no surprise that the opposition has pulled out of the election, given the increasingly brutal repression."

"South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, in his role as official mediator, has done far too little to quell the conflict. He has not done enough to bring Mugabe to reason and now -- worried about a civil war -- is calling for a postponement of the election and the formation of a national unity government. However, the precondition for this is that Africa's leaders distance themselves far more assertively from dictators such as Mugabe, thereby depriving them of the legitimacy they so long for."

"In future, opposition movements will only have a chance against state-sponsored terror campaigns if despots like Mugabe feel more pressure from their own continent. For Africa, Zimbabwe has finally become a litmus test for its ability to function democratically. Its leaders now have one final chance to show there might still be hope for human rights and pluralism on that continent."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"A stronger international commitment is now indispensable. Why is it that in an African country it takes a civil war before its neighbors become active? Decisive action, led by South Africa, is now needed. By pulling out of the election, Zimbabwe's democratic opposition is hoping to give an impulse to those -- including within Mugabe's circle -- who are looking to open up dialogue between the ruling party and opposition in order to get away from the regime's strategy of escalation."

"The possible result of such a political process is obvious: a government of national unity, which together develops a rescue package for the economy and -- carefully and without rush -- initiates genuinely free elections. In many of Africa's other crisis-stricken countries -- from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Ivory Coast -- such a model has borne fruit."

The center left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Whatever may be the case, the vote next Friday would have turned out to be a farce. A free and fair election in Zimbabwe is not possible as long as Mugabe is pulling the strings and orders his generals to use force against defenceless Zimbabweans. The country is now going to collapse even further. Mugabe cannot reform the economy, which is on its last legs. On top of that, Zimbabwe is descending into a food crisis, which will only worsen people's misery."

"The international community, especially Zimbabwe's African neighbors, have to make it clear to Mugabe that they view his rule as what it is: a stolen presidency. They have to refrain from doing business with the dictator and they have to build up a wall of opposition against Harare. They must not allow themselves to be used any longer as accomplices to a tyrant."

-- Mark Waffel, 3:30 p.m. CET