Ahead of an expected second round of presidential polls, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has unleashed his trusted terror units across the country to intimidate opposition supporters and the suffering population as a whole in a bid to hang on to his battered political hold. With March 29 election results still not officially declared by the government, the opposition fears that the Mugabe-regime is now upto its dirty tricks to deny opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party a legitimate victory. Mr.Tsvangirai and his party have alleged that the delay of the publication of the results is a way to allow Robert Mugabe to declare a runoff and give ruling Zanu-PF militants time to intimidate and voters and ensure the President a second round victory.
With Zimbabwe’s economy collapsing by the day, there are no signs of relief for the suffering population. Yet, the Zimbabweans have shown immense patience since the elections in their wait for an outcome. But many suspect the continous delay in the announcement of the results to be a sign of a Mugabe plot to destroy any opposition hope. In the words of a MDC activist, armed men and self-proclaimed war veterans are unleashing a campaign of terror against the people of Zimbabwe. According to the opposition activist,
Political analysts and western diplomats blame Zimbabwe’s neighbours and especially South Africa for not doing enough to pressurise President Mugabe. South African President Thabo Mbeki has come under severe international criticism for his theory of ‘quiet diplomacy’ on dealing with Harare.They(armed men)warned people that if they voted for the opposition they would be killed. They had AK-47s, shotguns, guns in their belts. People were very afraid. They were saying they were going to show an example to anyone supporting MDC and they asked the people to point out who they were but no one did. Their behaviour was inhuman.
Opposition parties fear that any delay on the part of the international community to deal firmly with Mugabe could lead to a waste of great opportunity in overthrowing him from his political den. Latest reports from Zimbabwe suggest independent reporters are getting arrested and opposition interests are being raided by paramilitary forces in a show of political intimidation. The situation is in danger of spiralling out of control plunging the depleted contry into further turmoil and anarchy. Few hours back, the Associated Press has reported that Zambia has called an emergency meeting of southern African leaders to find a way out to resolve the political crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe and let us hope the regional powers come up with something concrete and long-term to deal with the situation.
Source: Guardian
