MDC denies UK assistance in Zimbabwe struggle

Thursday, 29 May 2008 12:01 AM

Accusations by Robert Mugabe that opposition parties are being bankrolled by the British government have been denied by the Movement for Democratic Change.

Zimbabwe's shadow justice minister David Coltart told an event hosted by London thinktank Policy Exchange that the Zanu-PF leader's claims were far from the truth.

"It is one of the ironies of the situation that the MDC has allegedly received support from the British government, he said. "In fact the MDC has received very little British support."

Mr Coltart, re-elected as a senator in the March 29th parliamentary elections, praised the efforts of UK embassy staff in Zimbabwe, however, who he said were doing a "stirling job" in the face of "exceptionally difficult circumstances".

He claimed Mr Mugabe is waging a campaign of intimidation and violence against the MDC which amounted to a "fresh crime against humanity".

Increased abductions, displacements and the "gratuitous use of violence" all form part of the targeted campaign being conducted by Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party since the first-round election.

That took place two months ago today and, after a lengthy delay, saw the MDC take control of the country's parliament. The MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai failed to win an absolute majority in the presidential contest, prompting the current run-off campaign and Mr Mugabe's reign of terror.

Speaking at an event hosted by thinktank Policy Exchange in London, Mr Coltart compared the current crisis to the gukuruhundi, the 1983 pacification campaign which resulted in the deaths of 20,000 civilians.

The month after the election saw the number of human rights violations in Zimbabwe increase tenfold, he said, with second- and third-tier leadership levels of the MDC and the north-east of the country singled out for special attention.

"A new operation has unfolded. It is increasingly clear that Zanu-PF has organised a brutal campaign to root out people who voted for, or were in junior leadership positions in, the MDC under Morgan Tsvangirai," Mr Coltart said.

By May 16th Harare hospital had treated 1,600 victims of the violence alone while 22 deaths among MDC supporters had been confirmed, he claimed. One man was found with his eyes gouged out and his tongue cut out.

"We face a very serious situation. These are the actions of a government which has thrown caution to the wind. The government will do anything to win the runoff," Mr Coltart continued.

"[It is] a vicious plan of action designed to intimidate the electorate and destroy or at least disrupt party centres."

Despite these problems the senior opposition figure, who co-founded the MDC but supported a separate faction to Mr Tsvangirai's in the first-round poll, remains upbeat ahead of the second-round vote on June 27th.

He says the reunited MDC will command a substantial lead at the polls, with the eight per cent of voters backing third-placed candidate Simba Makoni expected to come across "en masse" for Tsvangirai.

The MDC also hopes to reverse low voter turnout in Harare, Bulawayo and other big urban centres, where disillusionment in the first round had seen less than a third of eligible voters turning out.

"We can easily make up the numbers. People now know why they need to end this nonsense," Mr Coltart continued.

"This is primarily a psychological battle. The rank and file [in Zimbabwe's police and military] simply cannot come out, but they understand. the only chance for the future is a change."

Despite this optimism Mr Coltart admitted problems with voterigging are "far worse than ever" in the approach to the run-off.

A defective voter roll, the displacement of many MDC supporters to places where they cannot vote and a lack of free media are among the factors which make the elections "failed" in terms of being free and fair.

The larger diaspora problem, police routinely banning meetings and state resources only being made available to one party "excessively" add to the problems, Mr Coltart explained.

"The country is paralysed. It is very hard to convey how serious the human rights violations are and the impact this has had on the mood - there is a climate of fear in the country."

The run-off takes place on June 27th.

Tags:
• asia
,
• foreign policy