Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai led a march on Parliament on Friday to deliver a petition against the economic and political crisis being presided over by his arch-rival, President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai defied the public order Act by leading the unauthorised protest march on the Parliament building in downtown Harare, along with about 40 senior members of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
He then delivered a petition to the office of the Speaker, John Nkomo, before beating a hasty retreat and avoiding arrest for the protest.
”We, members of the executive of the Movement for Democratic Change, on behalf of the party, call upon the government to acknowledge the nature of the crisis affecting the country and agree to an all stakeholders’ conference to start a process of stabilisation and reconstruction,” said the petition.
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa, who took part in the march, said larger-scale protests will follow if Mugabe does not respond to their demands.
”This is just a harbinger of things to come if [Mugabe’s ruling] Zanu-PF does not heed our call. Next time we will involve more people,” he said.
Tsvangirai’s party once posed the greatest threat to Mugabe’s 26-year rule, but it split late last year over his decision to boycott Senate elections.
Tsvangirai, who was elected to lead the larger of the MDC’s two splinter factions, called for ”peaceful, democratic resistance” at a party conference in March. But Mugabe vowed to crush opposition protests as he hit back at a call for ”democratic resistance” in the Southern African country.
Fuel queues
Meanwhile, long and chaotic lines of cars formed at gas stations on Friday as Zimbabwe’s government and fuel suppliers clashed over fuel prices. Worsening gas shortages were predicted.
Motorists thronged gas stations offering fuel at a new government recommended price of Z$335 (about R9,64) a litre.
The lines formed on Friday after banks sold United States dollars to fuel suppliers at the official exchange rate of Z$250 to $1 to buy fuel, and the state oil-procurement enterprise, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, released fuel on to the market based on the official exchange rate to some suppliers.
However, excluded suppliers had to buy fuel imports at the unofficial exchange rate of Z$660 to $1. As a result, their gasoline was more than twice as expensive as the officially recommended price — and their petrol stations were empty of customers.
The state central bank is expected soon to announce regulations pegging the lower gasoline price and making it an offence to sell fuel for more, industry executives said.
”There isn’t enough official hard currency to go round to everyone in the fuel sector, and new price-control measures will undoubtedly cause further shortages. You can’t be expected to sell something for less than you paid for it on the unofficial market, therefore it disappears,” said one private fuel dealer who asked not to be identified for fear of scrutiny by authorities.
The government has accused private fuel dealers of profiteering after buying hard currency illegally on the black market.
Zimbabwe has suffered acute fuel shortages over the past six years as the economy crumbled in the aftermath of the often violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms that began in 2000, slashing hard currency earnings from the main agricultural exports in the former regional breadbasket.
Traditional fuel suppliers Libya and Kuwait cut off shipments after Zimbabwe failed to pay its debts for oil products. Fuel lines snaking around gas stations have been a common sight in recent years.
Disruptions in the agriculture-based economy also led to acute shortages of other essential imports and food. Power and water outages, blamed on shortages of equipment and spare parts, are also a daily routine. — Sapa-AP, Sapa-AFP