Leaders of Zimbabwe’s opposition political parties, civic society and churches have called for “democratic confrontation and mass resistance” to force President Robert Mugabe to accept sweeping political reforms, raising the stakes in the troubled Southern African country.
In a sign that Zimbabwe’s opposition forces could be crystallising into a formidable broad alliance against Mugabe’s government, leaders of the splintered main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have embraced each other and leaders of civic groups and pledged to work together to oust Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF.
Most political analysts agree that, with efficient coordination, such an alliance could defeat Mugabe’s government, which remains firmly in control of the state’s coercive apparatus but is significantly weakened by a deepening economic crisis.
“There is need for sustainable democratic confrontation and mass resistance to create a situation where the government is compelled to talk to its people to resolve the crisis,” read part of resolutions passed by the groups at a weekend convention in Harare that was organised by the Christian Alliance, a grouping of several churches critical of Mugabe’s rule.
It was not immediately clear whether by that resolution the groups were specifically throwing their weight behind mass anti-government protests that the main faction of the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, has said it will call this winter to force Mugabe to give up power to a transitional government.
Tsvangirai and his MDC — who say they have lost faith in elections because the government routinely rigs ballots — want the transitional authority to lead the writing of a new democratic Constitution and organise fresh elections under international supervision.
The opposition and civic groups said mass resistance should be mobilised around bread-and-butter issues and should include nationwide protests and work stoppages, prayers and marches.
The convention was the first time that Tsvangirai and the leader of the smaller faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara, met in public. The two politicians shook hands and embraced each other, in a sign the chasm between the two factions of the country’s main opposition party may not be as wide as earlier thought.
The leaders of three other smaller opposition parties, the Zapu Federal Party, the Democratic Party and the United People’s Party, were also in attendance and agreed to work with the MDC to push for democratic change in Zimbabwe.
Zanu-PF, which snubbed an invitation to the convention, immediately dismissed the weekend gathering as lacking seriousness. Reacting to the opposition and its civic allies’ demand for political reforms, Zanu-PF legal secretary Patrick Chinamasa said the party was not going to be told what to do “by anyone”.
Chinamasa said: “We did not even attend it, as we felt it was not a serious thing. Zanu-PF does not have any problem, so we do not need anyone to tell us what to do.”
Mugabe, who has in the past deployed armed soldiers and police to thwart dissension, has also warned the opposition that anti-government protests would not be tolerated and specifically told Tsvangirai he would be “dicing with death” if he attempted to instigate a Ukraine-style revolt by Zimbabweans.
However, a prominent human rights campaigner and political commentator, Lovemore Madhuku, said that despite Mugabe’s boastfulness, he would find it much more difficult to deal with a united broad alliance of opposition and civic forces.
He said: “Everywhere where the opposition has toppled dictatorship, unity was the strategy. Kenya and South Africa are good examples … Zanu-PF must be shivering over this development [the coming together of opposition groups].”
Zimbabwe is struggling with a severe economic crisis marked by the world’s highest inflation of 1 184,6% and shortages of fuel, electricity, essential medicines, hard cash and just about every basic survival commodity.
The MDC and Western governments blame the crisis on repression and wrong policies by Mugabe, such as his seizure of productive farms from whites for redistribution to landless blacks.
The farm seizures destabilised the mainstay agricultural sector and caused severe food shortages after the government failed to give black villagers resettled on former white farms skills training and input support to maintain production.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since the country’s 1980 independence from Britain, denies mismanaging the country and says its problems are because of economic sabotage by Western governments opposed to his seizure of white land. — ZimOnline