Robert Mugabe his defeat, referring to them as "enemies of Zimbabwe". The June 2000 parliamentary elections were Zimbabwe's most important since 1980. Sixteen parties took part, although the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)—led by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai—was particularly successful. During the election campaign, MDC activists were regularly harassed and in some cases killed. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum documented 27 murders, 27 rapes, 2466 assaults, and 617 abductions, with 10,000 people displaced by violence; the majority, although not all, of these actions were carried out by ZANU-PF supporters. Observers from the European Union (EU) ruled that the election was neither free
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act On March 9, 2008, Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe signed the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Bill into law. The bill was passed through parliament in September 2007 by President Mugabe’s party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), in spite of resistance by the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The law will give Zimbabweans the right to take over and control many foreign-owned companies in Zimbabwe. Specifically, over 51 percent of all the businesses in the country will be transferred into local African hands. The bill defines an indigenous Zimbabwean as “any person