The Zimbabwe Situation

Yahoo News

by Fanuel Jongwe 2 hours, 2 minutes ago

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe is now run by a "military junta", the country's
opposition leader charged on Tuesday, vowing not to accept victory for
Robert Mugabe in a presidential run-off later this month.

There had been a "de facto coup d'etat" following the first round of the
election in March, Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters, with a campaign of
violence unleashed throughout the country.

"This country is effectively now run by a military junta," the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader said. "As a people we have been exposed to
state-sponsored brutality."

With the UN Security Council prepared for a special debate on Zimbabwe later
this week, Tsvangirai insisted he will compete against the president in the
run-off despite calls to cancel it in favour of talks amid mounting
violence.

Sixty-six MDC supporters had been killed since the first round of the
election on March 29, according to Tsvangirai.

"The illegitimacy of this regime will be confirmed if Mugabe declares
himself the winner," he said of the June 27 run-off.

He said Mugabe as commander in chief bore ultimate responsibility for the
violence, which he claimed had also left 200 unaccounted for and a further
3,000 hospitalised.

"The current reality is that he has allowed that situation to develop," the
opposition leader said.

Asked who else was orchestrating the violence, Tsvangirai said: "We know the
people who are calling the shots.

"We know the man who has given tacit approval -- he is the commander in
chief."

In addition to the violence, Tsvangirai has faced other major obstacles in
trying to campaign, with police detaining him twice last week and barring
MDC rallies.

"Despite the conditions on the ground, the MDC is focused on the run-off and
has developed counter-strategies of campaigning," he said. "I have been
encouraged by people's desire to finish what we have started."

Tsvangirai's comments came with South Africa at the centre of a new bid to
mediate between Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the MDC.

Some have suggested shelving the run-off to allow for negotiations, and
proposals have included making Mugabe president and Tsvangirai prime
minister in a transitional government.

Tsvangirai, however, refused to address such possibilities.

"The question of a national unity government does not arise," he said.

South Africa's Business Day newspaper reported that representatives of
Mugabe and Tsvangirai had recently gathered in Pretoria as part of a last
ditch effort to draw the country back from the abyss.

According to the newspaper, South African Local Government Minister Sydney
Mufamadi chaired a meeting between representatives of the MDC and Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party at the end of May and another was planned this week.

The idea of a unity government received strong backing on Tuesday from
Zimbabwe's ex-finance minister Simba Makoni, who finished third in the
election's first round.

Makoni said the run-off should be canceled and talks should be held to form
a transitional government that would be in place for five years to give it
time to carry out reforms.

He said political violence had made it impossible to hold a fair run-off and
pointed out that Zimbabwe, which is facing major food shortages and the
world's highest inflation rate, could not afford to organise another vote.

"In the current situation, there is no hope that a free and fair election
can be undertaken," Makoni, who split from ZANU-PF to run as an independent,
told reporters in Johannesburg.

South African President Thabo Mbeki was last year handed the task by his
peers in the region of mediating between the MDC and ZANU-PF. His efforts
have so far made little headway and Tsvangirai has called for him to be
stripped of his role.

With the violence increasing, Mugabe has accused the MDC of "terrorising"
ZANU-PF followers, although the UN says the vast majority of victims have
been opposition supporters.

The government announced on Monday that suspected perpetrators or
instigators of violence would be refused bail, a move the MDC claimed would
enable Mugabe to tighten the screw on his opponents.

The vast majority of those arrested over the violence have been MDC
supporters, including four lawmakers.

South Africa: Zimbabwe Crisis No Threat To Regional Security

nasdaq

PRETORIA (AFP)--South Africa believes Zimbabwe's political crisis should not
be on the U.N. Security Council agenda because the crisis poses no threat to
regional peace, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

Xolile Mabhongo, deputy head of multilateral affairs, spoke ahead of a
Security Council meeting Thursday on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe,
where violence has mounted in the approach to a June 27 run-off presidential
election.

"Debates on Zimbabwe in the U.N. Security Council have only been about the
humanitarian situation," Mabhongo said. "Zimbabwe does not pose a threat to
peace and security, which is the mandate of the Security Council."

At the insistence of Russia and South Africa, the council decided that
Thursday's briefing would focus exclusively on Zimbabwe's dire humanitarian
situation, according to diplomats.

One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia and
South Africa expressed concern that a wider briefing might undermine a
planned visit to Zimbabwe by U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Political
Affairs Haile Menkerios.

Meanwhile the European Union and the United States are to call on U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send a team to Zimbabwe to monitor human
rights as the election approaches.

Charity groups have warned that Zimbabwe may be facing a humanitarian
disaster following the government's announcement last week it was suspending
all aid work, after the government accused non-governmental organizations of
siding with the opposition.

Many Zimbabweans, particularly in rural areas, rely on food aid due to
shortages of basic commodities such as cooking oil and cornmeal.

President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from
Britain in 1980, faces opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the run-off.

-Dow Jones Newswires, 201-938-5500

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-10-081358ET

Makoni: Run-off must be cancelled

Mail and Guardian

Emelia Sithole-Matarise | Johannesburg, South Africa

10 June 2008 02:47

      Zimbabwe's presidential run-off vote on June 27 should be called
off because a free and fair vote is impossible, ruling Zanu-PF party
defector Simba Makoni said on Tuesday.

       Makoni, who challenged President Robert Mugabe in disputed March
elections, told reporters in Johannesburg that opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai must negotiate a transitional government to rule the country for
five years.

      "We don't believe that a run-off can be held on June 27 and be a
free and fair election. The country is in the grip of violence. The fiscus
does not have the money to support an election. Therefore we believe that a
run-off is not necessary. We don't believe the run-off will solve the
problems of the country," Makoni said.

      United States-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday that a
free and fair poll was impossible because of a systematic campaign of murder
and brutality unleashed by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in which at least 36
people had died.

      Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in an election on March 29 but failed
to reach the absolute majority needed for outright victory, necessitating a
run-off later this month.

      Makoni, a former finance minister, came a distant third.

      Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, human rights groups
and Western powers all say Zanu-PF has mounted a campaign of brutal
intimidation and rigging to ensure Mugabe wins the runoff and extends his
28-year rule.

      Mugabe blames his foes for the violence.

      Jacob Zuma, president of the African National Congress, said
during a tour of India on Tuesday that he was alarmed and anxious about the
reports of violence and called on Zanu-PF to ensure free political activity
before the vote.

      Crisis talks
      Business Day newspaper reported on Tuesday that Zanu-PF and the
MDC were in crisis talks that could lead to cancellation of the run-off.

      The generally well-informed paper, quoting negotiators from both
parties, said the talks were mediated by South African President Thabo
Mbeki, who failed to negotiate an end to the crisis last year.

      "Zanu-PF and the opposition ... are engaged in 11th hour
talks -- mediated by President Thabo Mbeki -- to salvage a solution to the
political stalemate, which may include cancelling a proposed presidential
run-off election," the paper said.

      Zuma, who has been outspoken about the Zimbabwe crisis, is
frontrunner to succeed Mbeki next year after toppling him as leader of the
ruling African National Congress (ANC). The latter has been widely
criticised for his softly-softly approach to Mugabe. Mbeki spokesperson
Mukoni Ratshitanga said he was unaware of the talks and officials from the
two parties were not immediately available.

      Business Day quoted the negotiators as saying the run-off might
be too "dicey".

      They were looking at various options including a national unity
government led by Mugabe, with Tsvangirai as prime minister -- similar to
the solution found for Kenya's bloody crisis earlier this year. - Reuters
2008

Morgan Tsvangirai’s statement on Zimbabwe’s run-off election

This statement by Morgan Tsvangirai was sent as an MDC press release earlier today:

Since the 8th of April when the military plan was unveiled, this country witnessed a defacto coup detat and effectively is now being run by a military junta. As a people we have been exposed to state sponsored brutality. The violence continues unabated.

66 people have been killed, 200 people unaccounted for, 3000 in hospitals, and over 25000 internally displaced. We have also witnessed a continuing trend of targeted attacks on our candidates, party leadership, and members. The structures of our party have been decimated with our polling agents remaining prime targets.

As a party we condemn violence in all its forms and wish to state that no single person should die on account of political differences. We won this election and therefore only the loser has a score to settle with the masses. This is why ZANU PF has setup bases across the country. Mugabe and his wife have been shedding crocodile tears by visiting MDC victims of political violence when his militia man are in fact the authors and perpetrators of the massacre.

In particular we want to condemn the role of Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri who has refused to carry out his duties. Chihuri is accountable for protecting ZANU PF thugs and creating a partisan culture of policing. We sympathize with those members of the police who have been humiliated, beaten, and violently tortured simply because they had refused to act on unlawful instructions.

Of late a group calling themselves vana vevhu has presented a position where they wish to repeat the land grabs of 2000. This group claims their patron is Grace Mugabe. What is clear is that Robert Mugabe wants to repeat the chaotic and violent land grab by unleashing this group on the people while confessing ignorance. We know that this is a preemptive strategy designed to undermine the will of the people in the face of yet another imminent defeat.

This is the political environment prevailing in our country 17 days before the run off election.

ZANU PF is also circulating a fabricated document purportedly signed by me and the secretary general of our party. This document misrepresents our party’s policy on land in particular the role of whites in a future Zimbabwe as well as the armed forces, civil servants, and ex combatants. A core campaign has been created to misinform our traditional leaders on the issues l have mentioned above. We wish to restate that our party has clear policies on land, and the need to keep our army and police force professional.

Against this background Robert Mugabe is making every effort to create a situation where he emerges the winner and therefore is making a concerted effort to undermine the Zimbabwe electoral commission by employing militia and soldiers as staffers.

We are aware that there is an attempt to abuse the postal vote system. We are also aware that there is an attempt to undermine those security forces right to a secret ballot. Through its campaign on terror unleashed on people mainly in the rural areas, ZANU PF has forcibly withdrawn national identity document from some of our members. For some their documents were destroyed together with their property as their houses were burnt. It is clear that ZANU PF strategy is a dooms day strategy.

The illegitimacy of this regime will certainly be confirmed if Mugabe declares himself a winner.

There has been growing momentum on the question of a government of national unity. Speculation is rife on this issue with some saying negotiations are taking place. Others say the agreement has already been signed. Nothing can be further from the truth. Since the announcement of the election date for a run off, no one can change that date unless Robert Mugabe concedes defeat. It therefore means that a government of national unity negotiated before the run off does not arise.

We have been on record as saying once a mandate has been given to us we will form an inclusive government as a way of managing our transition. We are committed to this position.

We wish to state that the Kenyan model of a government of national unity is not an option because here the people have clearly spoken and our circumstances are different. The people’s choice must be respected.

In spite of the conditions on the ground the MDC is focused on the run off and has developed counter strategies of campaigning. I am encouraged by the people’s determination and their desire to ensure that we finish it and we dismiss hunger, poverty, loss of dignity and suffering on June 27, 2008. This is the change you can trust. Our victory is certain.

This entry was written by Sokwanele on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Zimbabwe opposition senator's house attacked: MDC

Yahoo News

1 hour, 48 minutes ago

HARARE (AFP) - Suspected ruling party militants stoned an opposition
senator's home and torched his car on Tuesday as election-related violence
gathered pace in Zimbabwe ahead of a run-off election, the party said.

"ZANU-PF thugs attacked the house of our senator for Gutu, Empire Makamure,
and burnt his car to ashes early this morning," Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman
for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told AFP.

In a separate incident, Chamisa said that followers of President Robert
Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front attacked a
local businessman and torched two of his lorries after accusing him of being
an MDC sympathiser.

"We are now witnessing a disturbing trend of coordinated violence involving
arson, assault, abductions and killing," Chamisa added.

"The targets are mainly key MDC members, our supporters and election agents.
ZANU-PF knows they will not win a free and fair election -- that is why they
are resorting to this violence."

Meanwhile state media reported that a veteran of the 1970s liberation war
was killed and four ZANU-PF supporters injured by MDC followers in the
southern Bikita region over the weekend.

The Herald daily said that the victims had been set on by several dozen MDC
followers with axes, machetes and clubs.

There have been growing reports of election-related violence with less than
three weeks before Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai square off in the
second round of a presidential election on June 27.

According to the MDC, more than 60 of its supporters have been killed by
pro-Mugabe militias since the first round of voting on March 29.

Mugabe in turn has accused the MDC of "terrorising" ZANU-PF followers,
although the UN says the vast majority of victims of the spiralling violence
have in fact been opposition supporters.

Zim refugees granted asylum

IOL

June 10 2008 at 10:47AM

Lusaka - Zambia has granted political asylum to a dozen Zimbabwe
opposition supporters who have fled mounting political violence ahead of a
run-off presidential election in June, state media said on Tuesday.

Zambia's home affairs ministry said 12 Zimbabweans have been granted
political asylum and given full refugee status after undergoing a screening
process, the state-run Zambia Daily Mail report said.

"Twelve of the 13 Zimbabweans who applied for asylum in Zambia have
been granted the status," said Susan Sikaneta, home affairs permanent
secretary.

She said the Zimbabweans will be taken for Maheba refugee camp in
north-western Zambia where they will be looked after by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.

The newspaper quoted Sikaneta as saying the Zimbabweans were
supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who
crossed into Zambia in recent days following the escalating violence.

Relations between the governments in Lusaka and Harare have been
steadily declining with Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa angering his
counterpart Robert Mugabe by likening Zimbabwe's inflation-ravaged economy
to the sinking Titanic. - Sapa-AFP

Zanu-PF obstructing Tsvangirai's campaign: MDC

SABC

June 10, 2008, 10:45

By Thulasizwe Simelane
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses the
ruling Zanu-PF of using state agencies to obstruct opposition presidential
candidate Morgan Tsvangirai's campaign ahead of this month's presidential
run-off election.

The party plans to hold rallies across the country, after the high court
intervened and reversed a police ban on all opposition gatherings on
security grounds. The MDC also alleges that it is being kept out of public
media, a key Southern African Development Community (SADC) requirement for
the holding of free and fair elections.

The MDC alleges that the detention of Tsvangirai last week was part of a
ploy by the ruling party to use the police, the public media and other state
agencies to frustrate its campaign.

Takura Zhangazha from the Media Institute of Southern Africa says: "We are
seeing a serious clamp-down, we are seeing an upsurge in political violence,
and we are seeing a lack of access to the media by the opposition and civil
society organisations".

'Baseless concerns'
Zanu-PF spokesperson, Bright Matonga says: "These are baseless concerns, and
Tsvangirai is free to campaign, as long as he obeys the law. "The government
of Zimbabwe will not just arrest Tsvangirai, but he needs to act in
accordance with the laws of the country, we will not let him get away with
it if he breaks the law, that is a fact, and we'll not apologise to anyone
about that," says Matonga.

All eyes are now on Zimbabwe, to see if it will continue on the more
positive path it had adopted in the first election. By Zimbabwean standards,
the first round of this election saw an unprecedented opening up of
political space, with all candidates freely touting their manifesto's to the
electorate. But stakes are much higher now, and some fear that Morgan
Tsvangirai is fighting off police just to meet with his supporters.

S.Africa's Zuma alarmed by Zimbabwe violence

Reuters

Tue 10 Jun 2008, 8:35 GMT

JOHANNESBURG, June 10 (Reuters) - Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's
ruling party, said on Tuesday he was alarmed and anxious about reports of
widespread violence and brutality in Zimbabwe's election campaign.

Speaking during a visit to India, Zuma said in a speech released by his
African National Congress in Johannesburg: "We cannot rest until the
situation is resolved, as it affects all of us. We want to see the return of
peace and stability in Zimbabwe as speedily as possible."

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday a fair presidential runoff vote
in Zimbabwe was impossible as scheduled on June 27 because of a systematic
campaign of murder and brutality by the government of President Robert
Mugabe.

U.S. Pulls Fulbright Scholars Out of Zimbabwe

ABC news

Since Disputed Presidential Election, Zimbabwe Has Sunk Into Crisis
By DANA HUGHES and KIRIT RADIA
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 9, 2008

In another sign of the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, the U.S. State
Department is evacuating all fellows and scholars from its Fulbright program
in the country, citing security concerns before the election runoff later
this month, State Department officials told ABC News.

There are currently three Americans participating in the program in
Zimbabwe, including teaching fellows and a documentary filmmaker who says he
is "disappointed" at the prospect of having to leave before his scholarship
ends. State Department officials also said that the program has suspended
the two scholarships it had planned for next year as well.

The decision comes after months of escalating violence following the
country's presidential election in March, which President Robert Mugabe is
believed to have lost but has refused to concede, instead forcing a runoff.

Revolting spectacle of Mugabe

conservativeeurope.com

News Release

Posted, June 10, 2008 @ 00:00

Conservative MEP calls on Italy to utilise EU travel ban on Mugabe

Brussels, 10th June 2008 -- Italy should renegotiate its agreement with UN
agencies based in Rome to stop the revolting spectacle of Robert Mugabe
scoffing gourmet Italian cuisine while Zimbabweans starve, a leading
Conservative MEP said today.

Dr Charles Tannock, Conservative spokesman on foreign affairs in Brussels,
said the newly-elected Berlusconi government could strike a strong blow for
human rights by reasserting control over who it allows to enter its
territory on UN business.

Dr Tannock's comments come after Mugabe and his fellow international pariah
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran visited Rome last week for an emergency summit
held at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Mugabe was able to defy an EU travel ban because of FAO's headquarters
agreement with Italy which obliges the Italian government to allow people
invited to UN meetings to enter Italy even if they would normally be banned
from entering the country.

Dr Tannock will be raising the issue in a priority oral question to the
Council at the next Strasbourg plenary session.

Dr Tannock said:

"The revolting spectacle of Mugabe enjoying fine Italian cuisine while his
people starve and sticking up two fingers to the rest of the world should
spur the Italian government into action.

"I hope Berlusconi will give serious thought to renegotiating the agreement
with FAO to avoid this affront in the future.

"Italy should be able to invoke its obligations under the EU travel ban and
refuse entry to Mugabe.

"It would send a powerful signal of solidarity with the suffering people of
Zimbabwe and Europe's support for human rights.

"Mugabe knows that the UN offers him a way of getting around the EU travel
ban and he has used it repeatedly in the past few years."

Zimbabwe Business Watch : Week 24

Sokwanele

The economy is in real free fall right now as inflation accelerates rapidly
making life almost unbearable. It is predicted that by the end of the month,
prices could be doubling everyday. As an indication to this, the USD traded
at 1, 4 billion to 1 on Thursday and went over 3 billion the following day.

Rand on the street late last week was up to 180 million which tallies with
the USD figure.

Currency traders ceased operations on Thursday and Friday because of the
free fall of the ZWD and annual inflation certainly exceeded 2 million
percent.

As the consequence of this devaluation, huge anomalies are developing in the
system and prices, charges, service fees, etc can be dramatically lower than
the next simply because the organizations have not had time to adjust their
costings or figures.

What it means is that Public Services are now all but non existent and
Government is printing quadrillions of cash to fund general salary increases
in the Civil Service to carry favour at the forthcoming polls. There are now
suggestions that salaries must be indexed to the Interbank R.O.E and this is
becoming more and more of a guide to muddled decision makers.

The Hard Boiled Egg Index has passed the 1 million mark (I trillion).

This entry was written by Sokwanele on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai rejects unity government

Zimbabwe spokesman: unity gov't 'would make sense'

Zimbabwe opposition held secret talks with Robert Mugabe

Mbeki in last-ditch Zim bid

Zimbabwe Opposition Will Refuse To Accept Mugabe Victory

Tsvangirai confident of winning despite violence

Where are the election observers?

Zimbabwe now run by 'military junta': opposition leader