Legislators for Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change on Thursday caught the police by surprise when they marched in Harare against an ”anti-people Budget” presented to Parliament earlier this week and pending constitutional changes.
Under Zimbabwe’s tough security laws, it is illegal for Zimbabweans to demonstrate or gather in groups of more than three to discuss politics without first seeking police approval.
But the march, which went ahead in defiance of the security law, was virtually low-key after only nine of the party’s MPs participated in the demonstration, with the opposition party saying the rest of the legislators were attending parliamentary committee meetings.
The MDC has 41 members in Zimbabwe’s 150-member Parliament.
MDC legislator for Glen Norah, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who was part of the march, said: ”The march is against the anti-people Budget that seeks to milk poor Zimbabweans. We are also marching against the piecemeal amendments to the Constitution proposed by Zanu-PF.
”We want a complete overhaul of the Constitution which is all-inclusive. Every Zimbabwean has a right to participate in the constitutional process.”
The surprise demonstration took place without incident after the police were virtually caught unawares. The MDC legislators marched from the party’s headquarters at Harvest House to Parliament in central Harare.
The police have in the past violently crushed street protests by civic groups. Last month, a demonstration by the National Constitutional Assembly protest group was violently put down and a number of the organisation’s members were arrested.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said: ”We did not apply to the police because we believe it is our constitutional right to demonstrate. We also wanted to exercise our leadership in demonstrating to people that it is time we stand up against the regime. We cannot sit back while our rights are being trampled upon.”
She said Thursday’s march was a symbolic move to break people’s fear to demonstrate against repressive legislation.
”Today we have broken the yoke of fear and bondage and we are asking the people of Zimbabwe to join us in our future demonstrations to demand our rights,” she said.
President Robert Mugabe was out of the country on Thursday attending a summit of the 13-nation Southern African Development Community. Trade, development, the alleviation of poverty and food security in the face of a drought were on the agenda.
Zimbabwe was not on the official summit agenda, but was the subject of discussions on the sidelines, with regional human rights groups pressing for more democracy in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the region.
Mugabe, whose ruling Zanu-PF enjoys a majority in the House, is set to push through wide-ranging constitutional changes in Parliament to entrench his hold on power.
The MDC is fiercely opposed to the Constitutional Amendment Bill, which — apart from reintroducing the Senate that was abolished 10 years ago — will bar white farmers from contesting the acquisition of their farms in Zimbabwe’s courts.
Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa presented on Tuesday a supplementary Budget statement to Parliament that introduced new taxes on cellphone airtime and quarterly taxes for public transport operators in a desperate bid by the government to raise cash to fund food imports.
Murerwa also raised value-added tax from 15% to 17,5% in a bid to boost government revenue. There was no tax relief for workers, save for raising non-taxable income by a paltry Z$500 000 to Z$1,5-million per month.
Also on Thursday, the Central Statistical Office announced annual inflation jumped from 164% to 254,8% in July. Moffat Nyoni, the acting director of the office, told state media it is the largest monthly surge on record.
Economist John Robertson said the latest inflation figures show ”the government is now the victim of its own policies — the only word that comes to mind is state vandalism”.
Robertson said by seizing 5 000 white-owned commercial farms since Mugabe lost a February 2000 constitutional referendum, the government has sacrificed $1,2-billion in tobacco production and exports — roughly the same sum it is now seeking from South Africa as a financial bail-out.
”We are heading for 1 000% inflation by the year-end if we do not start behaving better,” said Robertson. ”The government itself is beginning to feel the impact of their policies. They don’t want the consequences of having, one month, not paid the army.” — ZimOnline, Sapa-AP