[reg45]

The Supreme Court traditionally had only five judges until Mugabe expanded the bench to eight in July, adding three judges considered loyal to the ruling party.

He learned that trick from FDR.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

How Mugabe stole democracy--[Excerpt] What is happening in Zimbabwe "is a Sunday school picnic compared to what happened in East Timor", noted one SA election observer.

The first democratic elections in SA and East Timor were the culmination of protracted and bitter struggles and violence was to be expected in that context.

It is not fair that Zimbabweans, who paid a heavy price to hold their first democratic elections in 1980, should pay so dearly 22 years later.

There is no reason one single Zimbabwean should have died in the past two elections. It makes a mockery of the notion of democracy. The concept of a free and fair election has been stretched so far that for many Zimbabweans it has lost all meaning. [End Excerpt] <a