Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe of running a dictatorship on Wednesday after he was briefly detained by police and needed court approval to address supporters.
Ten months after being assaulted at another anti-Mugabe rally, Tsvangirai told supporters his detention in the early hours by police who picked him up while he was sleeping was a bad omen for elections due in March.
While there were sporadic clashes between followers of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and security forces in the build-up to the rally at a football pitch, Tsvangirai’s address passed off peacefully.
”Where in the world have you seen the leader of a reputable national and international brand like the MDC be treated like a common criminal?,” asked Tsvangirai, who is trying to end Mugabe’s 28-year rule at the ballot box.
”If this is the reaction of this dictatorship, then the elections are a farce.
”I don’t foresee a situation where this very police can salute a change of government. I don’t foresee a situation where this Zimbabwe Electoral Commission can actually announce the defeat of Mugabe.”
Tsvangirai was only given clearance to address about 1 000 supporters after Harare magistrates overruled a blanket ban on the protest, but did order the MDC to axe plans to march through the city.
Presiding Justice Priscilla Chigumba said the MDC must wrap up their rally by 3.15pm local time, an order that was adhered to.
Speaking to journalists after the ruling, MDC secretary general Tendai Biti praised the court’s judgement.
”We want to commend the magistrate for a very brave decision, which allows us to exercise our freedom of association and the right to freedom of assembly,” said Biti.
As MDC supporters who had gathered at the party headquarters in the city centre made their way to the football ground, several were targeted by riot police, who fired tear gas without causing major injury.
About 1 000 supporters finally made it to the venue where scores of police, including undercover officers, closely watched events. Several diplomats from Western missions could also be seen monitoring the rally.
The former British colony, led by the 83-year-old Mugabe since independence in 1980, is in economic meltdown. The official annual rate of inflation is put at 8 000%, but economists believe it to be nearer 50 000%.
Unemployment is running at about 80% while basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil and sugar are now a scarce commodity in the one-time regional breadbasket.
The MDC is hoping that the crisis will lead voters to dump Mugabe at joint parliamentary and presidential polls next month.
”We are crying against poverty, we are crying for food, we are crying for jobs and what’s the response of the state?” asked Tsvangirai.
”The child is crying to the father and the father takes a stick and beats up that child. What kind of a father is that?”
Mugabe came in for widespread international criticism in March last year after Tsvangirai and dozens of MDC supporters were assaulted as they tried to attend an anti-government rally in Harare. The president responded by telling his critics to ”go hang”.
The prospect of the MDC looking to defy another banned rally had raised fears of new unrest, with the government warning the opposition not to resort to violence.
”The government expects Tsvangirai and his party to keep their pledge to a peaceful campaign and lawful conduct, which they made to the law-enforcement authorities only this morning [Wednesday,” Information Ministry spokesperson George Charamba said. — AFP
