News from the New Party

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Heroes of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a magnificent country blighted by the quasi-fascist, gangster regime of Robert Mugabe. Once known as the "Breadbasket of Africa", Zimbabwe now is a net importer of food, and is indeed facing the threat of mass famine. The economy is wrecked, with enormous levels of unemployment and inflation well into four figures - the official tally of 1700% is very probably a significant underestimate. To say that political and economic reform is urgently needed is a gross understatement. Unfortunately the incumbent government seems to view it as its bounden duty to thwart any such efforts at reform: dissidence is severely punished, and although the courts in Zimbabwe occasionally rule on the side of human rights, such rulings are routinely ignored. The government is effectively a law unto itself: the rule of law no longer operates in Zimbabwe.

Under these circumstances democratic resistance is extremely difficult to organise effectively. Part of the problem in Zimbabwe is that a significant proportion of the Zimbabwean middle class (who would be expected to play a key role in any such reform movement) have fled the country. Those who remain are therefore far more isolated, and have a much more difficult and hazardous task.

We therefore salute the courage and determination of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his colleagues in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's principal opposition movement, several dozen of whom were savagely beaten by police following a demonstration in Harare. Mr Tsvangirai himself reportedly sustained a fractured skull in the incident. We hear today that several MDC members have been prevented by the authorities from leaving the country, and one of them, MP Nelson Chemisa, was again beaten, apparently by state security forces.

It is clearly difficult for the British government to influence events in Zimbabwe. Although as the former colonial power Britain clearly has a special interest in Zimbabwe, the fact of the matter is that Robert Mugabe habitually paints Britain as a key instigator in Zimbabwe's current difficulties. Almost anything the British government may try to do openly to alleviate the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe is therefore likely to be counterproductive. Any UK contribution to an international response to this crisis will in all probability have to be behind the scenes. In this respect it is encouraging at last to see the African Union and to some extent even South Africa (whose attitude throughout has been somewhat pedestrian) starting to take a more robust line against its northern neighbour. We trust that this will be the start of a trend among southern African countries to put increasing pressure on the Mugabe regime to reform itself before it collapses, potentially with disastrous consequences not just for Zimbabwe but for the whole region.

It is to be hoped that with international support Zimbabwe's heroic champions of democracy, freedom and human rights are vindicated, and a happier and more prosperous Zimbabwe may emerge as a result of their efforts.

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