Did anyone watch Robert Mugabe address the leadership of ZANU-PF in Harare on Saturday?
It was a display of arrogance and defiance laden with unprovoked insults on the U.S., the UK and any country that is not in support of the unparalleled authoritarianism that has been going on in Zimbabwe in the past 28 years.
Although in one way, the belated speech portrays Mugabe as regretting the loss of the March 29 polls to his arch rival, MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai, he is in another breadth, seen rejoicing over the undue delay in releasing the results, thereby keeping him and his party intact.
To corroborate what I mean, read the direct quotes of the president as captured by the country’s mouthpiece –The Herald.
Going through the speech leaves me with no hope for the opposition. Why am I so pessimistic? Mugabe has been allowed to fully recover from his dilemma and is now barking like a wounded lion, ready to devour anyone on his way and the nearest prey is Tsvangirai, whom many believe won the first ballot.
Since the ‘cooked’ Zimbabwe election results were ‘released’ two weeks ago, the world, media and human rights groups have gone to sleep, leaving Tsvangirai to decide whether to confront Mugabe or not. Of note is the sad fact that no serious pressure has been brought to bear on Mugabe by international bodies charged with such duties. The best we have seen is a passive remark by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, that he is discussing the rerun of the Zimbabwe election with some countries.
Why would the UN and some powerful nations not confront Mugabe now before he creates a bloodbath in the South African nation and forces the UN to send in troops and humanitarian teams?
Learning from the experience of the last election, Mugabe has now mobilised his arsenal and is already doing battle with MDC supporters and anyone opposed to his repressive regime.
If the streets of Harare are no longer safe for people who voted against Mugabe in the previous election, how are we sure they will be allowed to come out and vote in a rerun now fixed for June 27?
I am just afraid that the world must have lost an opportunity to uphold Tsvangirai’s well deserved victory and free Zimbabweans from the claws of death.
Links:
It was a display of arrogance and defiance laden with unprovoked insults on the U.S., the UK and any country that is not in support of the unparalleled authoritarianism that has been going on in Zimbabwe in the past 28 years.
Although in one way, the belated speech portrays Mugabe as regretting the loss of the March 29 polls to his arch rival, MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai, he is in another breadth, seen rejoicing over the undue delay in releasing the results, thereby keeping him and his party intact.
To corroborate what I mean, read the direct quotes of the president as captured by the country’s mouthpiece –The Herald.
Going through the speech leaves me with no hope for the opposition. Why am I so pessimistic? Mugabe has been allowed to fully recover from his dilemma and is now barking like a wounded lion, ready to devour anyone on his way and the nearest prey is Tsvangirai, whom many believe won the first ballot.
Since the ‘cooked’ Zimbabwe election results were ‘released’ two weeks ago, the world, media and human rights groups have gone to sleep, leaving Tsvangirai to decide whether to confront Mugabe or not. Of note is the sad fact that no serious pressure has been brought to bear on Mugabe by international bodies charged with such duties. The best we have seen is a passive remark by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, that he is discussing the rerun of the Zimbabwe election with some countries.
Why would the UN and some powerful nations not confront Mugabe now before he creates a bloodbath in the South African nation and forces the UN to send in troops and humanitarian teams?
Learning from the experience of the last election, Mugabe has now mobilised his arsenal and is already doing battle with MDC supporters and anyone opposed to his repressive regime.
If the streets of Harare are no longer safe for people who voted against Mugabe in the previous election, how are we sure they will be allowed to come out and vote in a rerun now fixed for June 27?
I am just afraid that the world must have lost an opportunity to uphold Tsvangirai’s well deserved victory and free Zimbabweans from the claws of death.
Links:
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