Mugabe’s got Tsvangirai by the balls
Remind me why we have this inclusive government again?
On Thursday March 17, police banned a Movement for Democratic Change “People’s Peace Rally” which had been planned for Saturday March 19. Speakers at the rally were to include MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who is also Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
Initially, the MDC was defiant about the ban, pledging it would go ahead as planned, and appealing first to the Magistrate’s Court and then to the High Court, both of whom upheld the ban. The ban defied an earlier move by Zimbawe’s President Robert Mugabe to lift an unofficial ban on MDC rallies.
The MDC continued to put up posters advertising the rally – I saw some go up as late as Thursday and Friday. On Friday, the police warned the public not to attend the rally.
On Friday, we sent a text message to our subscribers asking them what the MDC should do about the ban. Over 60% of them advised the MDC should go ahead with the rally.
Along similar lines, several MDC supporters went to the rally despite the ban. Police fired tear gas to disrupt those who had gathered. Others were assaulted by alleged Zanu PF youth. According to the MDC, at least 15 were hospitalised as result. This is consistent with the feedback we received from people in town on Saturday, including:
- Harare is cordoned off by ZRP. No cars are picking or dropping people there.
- MDC T members are being beaten and looted their cash by Zanu PF in front of ZRP.
All of this begs the question, what should the MDC do in an environment in which on paper they are an equal partner in government, with a co-Minister of Home Affairs. But in reality, they are very much junior partners, and some criticise their presence in government as simply legitimising continued Zanu PF domination.
Interestingly, the vast majority (61.5%) of Kubatana subscribers who were answering this question urged the MDC to go ahead with the rally.
Other responses included:
- Take it to the courts – 9.6%
- Street protests – 7.0%
- Wait / reschedule – 7.0%
- Appeal to the region – 5.9%
- Push for new constitution / elections – 3.2%
- Use the media to build support – 3.2%
- Pull out of the GNU – 2.7%
Of course, like the suggestion that the MDC should “just go ahead with the rally despite the ban,” these other ideas also need investigating. If the Magistrate’s court and High Court uphold the ban, what recourse does the MDC have through the courts? If police disrupt a planned peace rally and participants are attacked, what hope is there for street protests? Morgan Tsvangirai had just come back from a four day regional tour – appealing to the region didn’t seem to make much difference. And if you can’t get your so-called partner in government to agree to let you hold a peace rally, how do you ever hope to hold free and fair elections?
There is the idea that the MDC should use the media to build support – if they haven’t been able to do this in the 12 years since they were formed, why will they be able to now?
There is the least frequently suggested idea, that the MDC pull out of the GNU. But that could very well be exactly what Zanu PF is hoping it will do. If the MDC pulls out, then Mugabe would be in his rights to call for new elections. He would tell the region there was nothing else he could do – he had tried his level best, but the MDC pulled out. And therefore, in order to restore legitimacy to the government and allow the people of Zimbabwe their sovereign right to elect their leaders, he had no choice to call for elections. Of course, if the MDC can’t even hold a peace rally, how could elections in this environment ever be free and fair?
Finally, there is the suggestion that the MDC respect the ban and wait or reschedule – which is what it eventually settled on. The MDC has said they will hold the rally this coming weekend instead.
A friend of mine said on the weekend that Mugabe’s got Tsvangirai by the balls. In the process, it’s the people of Zimbabwe who are really feeling the pinch.