AFP, Harare | Monday
CONFLICT is simmering in Zimbabwe between the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the government over threats to arrest MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai for allegedly treasonous statements.
The MDC said the intended arrest was “legally unjustified and politically unwise and dangerous”, as it is likely to lead to unnecessary conflict within the country.
The threat met with a like-minded response from the governing Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party, which warned that it would answer violence with violence.
At a rally marking the MDC’s first anniversary last weekend, Tsvangirai advised Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to retire voluntarily or face being pushed out of office violently.
“What we would like to tell Mugabe today is ‘please go peacefully, and if you don’t want to go peacefully we will remove you violently’,” the MDC leader told his supporters at the September 30 rally.
Police and senior ZANU-PF officials have said that Tsvangirai’s statement was treasonable.
Tsvangirai said from South Africa that he was prepared to face possible prosecution for treason.
The MDC criticised the government for threatening to arrest Tsvangirai for his statement, when few ruling party supporters have faced prosecution for similar statements and the widespread violence before June legislative elections has gone largely unpunished.
At least 34 people died in violence ahead of the elections, in which ZANU-PF narrowly defeated the MDC.
“The government continues to threaten and to use violence against the MDC and other opposition voices, and has used force to constrain the political freedom of ordinary Zimbabweans,” the statement said.
“Lessons of history show that, no matter how tolerant a people may be, the time comes in any oppressive society when such people have taken as much as they can handle and react with spontaneous violence that no one can control.”