Defying the courts

The high court decision to allow an extra day of voting seemed a ray of hope in Zimbabwe. But listen to Chris McGreal’s report (Real Audio stream) and the heart sinks again. Despite the order, polling stations haven’t been opened. And the evidence of government stuffing of the ballot boxes looks clear. Still, the sight of people queuing for hours (McGreal reports some people queued for 30 hours to vote) is an extraordinary affirmation of the thirst for democracy. It should make people in countries like the US and the UK, where the percentage of the electorate that bother to vote is steadily dropping, feel shame. Except, of course, the people who don’t vote on the whole don’t read news from “obscure” places like Zimbabwe.