Zimbabwe bans election rallies by MDC leader
The opposition fears it won't be able to even put up posters for the June 27 presidential runoff as some see the regime set to hold on to power at any cost.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — The message from the campaign posters decking the streets of Zimbabwe's capital is blunt: "Mugabe Is Right," a reference to the president who has ruled for 28 years and seems loath to give up power.
With his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, banned Friday from addressing political rallies in the run-up to the June 27 presidential runoff, there is doubt about whether the opposition will be allowed to even put up campaign posters.
Staff members with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change on Friday were editing an advertisement for the state-owned ZBC network, without knowing whether the channel would air it. The ad, with the slogan "Let's Finish It," features Zimbabweans talking about their despair over the situation in their country and promises "A new president ready to deliver a new Zimbabwe."
After its crackdown aimed at the opposition and also at Western diplomats and aid organizations, analysts believe the regime is unlikely to step down if Mugabe loses the election. Tsvangirai supporters claim that their candidate won the first round of balloting in March, but the national election commission gave him 48% of the vote to Mugabe's 43%, not enough to avoid a runoff.
The ban on Tsvangirai's rallies was just the latest in a series of steps taken by the government to disrupt the opposition and others it perceives as critics.
Police briefly detained the opposition leader at a roadblock Friday for the second time in a week.
On Thursday, U.S. diplomats investigating political violence were pursued by police in a high-speed car chase and detained for six hours at a roadblock while Mugabe supporters menaced them.
The leader of a smaller opposition party, Arthur Mutambara, was arrested recently for writing an article critical of Mugabe.
And the regime Thursday banned international aid agencies from doing any fieldwork; it has accused them of supporting the opposition. About one-third of Zimbabwe's population, about 4 million people, depends on the aid for survival amid an agricultural collapse blamed on the government's mismanagement.
The European Union on Friday called on Zimbabwean authorities to allow aid agencies to operate freely, and UNICEF warned that 185,000 needy children would be denied assistance as a result of the ban.
The U.S. ambassador in Harare, James McGee, told journalists Friday that the government was using food as a political weapon, distributing it mainly to Mugabe supporters. McGee warned that there could be massive hunger if this continued.
