Here's the not good African news. There must be troops sent in and some hangings from the lamp posts.
Mugabe Plans to Retake Parliament, Officials Say 2008-07-10 12:52:44.470 (New York)
By Brian Latham
July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe plans to regain control of the National Assembly by preventing members of the opposition from taking their seats through a campaign of intimidation, say two members of his party's decision-making council.
Mugabe, along with Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, Air Force Commander Perence Shiri, Army Commander Constantine Chiwenga and prisons chief Paradzai Zimondi, have drawn up plans to use violence to force members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change into hiding, the officials, who declined to be identified, said today by phone from Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.
Once forced into hiding, MDC lawmakers won't be able to be sworn into parliament, the officials said. Once they miss 21 consecutive parliamentary sessions, Zimbabwean law requires new elections for their seats, the officials said.
Wayne Bvudzijena, a spokesman for the police, denied that there is such a plan. Calls to Zimbabwe's army headquarters weren't answered.
Mugabe, 84, has faced international condemnation after he extended his 28-year rule in a June 27 vote that U.S. President George W. Bush called a ``sham.'' His opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the election and sought refuge in the Dutch embassy, citing a campaign of what he said was state- orchestrated violence. While he won the first round, officials said he didn't win the majority needed to avoid a runoff.
`War Declared'
``War has been declared on the MDC and its supporters,''
party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said in a telephone interview from Harare.
Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front lost control of the assembly in March 29 polls, his first electoral defeat since independence in 1980.
The MDC, led by Tsvangirai, won 110 seats in the 210 seat assembly while Zanu-PF won 96 seats. One seat was won by an independent and three seats will be subject to by-elections because candidates died before the poll.
Zanu-PF's plan to retake the assembly would be followed by talks with the MDC to form a coalition government with the opposition party as a junior partner, the officials said.
The plan will also target journalists critical of Zanu-PF, the officials said. Bloomberg News was read a list of more than 30 individuals, mainly from the police, who would carry out the campaign of violence in Zimbabwe's 10 provinces. A central bank official was also included in the list.
``The will of the people is under immense threat,'' the MDC's Chamisa said. Zanu-PF are ``behaving like warriors at war with the nation, cutting the tongue off the very people they say they want dialogue with.''
`Talks Happening'
South African President Thabo Mbeki has sought to broker a compromise between Mugabe and his political opponents.
``Talks are happening,'' Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman for Mbeki, said by telephone from Pretoria. He declined to give further details or say who was participating.
George Sibotshiwe, Tsvangirai's spokesman, denied that the MDC was involved in the mediation effort.
``The MDC is not in talks with anybody,'' he said. ``We will not take part in negotiations until our conditions are met'' including a cessation of the violence. |
