Redstate

Posted at 8:50pm on May 11, 2008 It's On

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Morgan Tsvangirai will contest the runoff in Zimbabwe:

Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, on Saturday sought to reclaim the initiative in his country's political crisis, saying he would return to his homeland in the next two days to contest a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe.

His pledge ended several weeks of public equivocation within the opposition Movement for Democratic Change over whether to take part in a second round in the face of a campaign of violent intimidation of MDC activists by Mr Mugabe's supporters.

Addressing a press conference in Pretoria, the capital of neighbouring South Africa, Mr Tsvangirai sounded a defiant note.

"I am ready, the people are ready," he said. "I intend to return as shortly as possible and intend to begin a victory tour."

Read on . . .

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Posted at 1:07am on May 9, 2008 No, I Haven't Forgotten The Nightmare In Zimbabwe

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Though I very much wish that I could:

President Robert Mugabe's government on Thursday extended its crackdown on Zimbabwe's opposition with the arrest of a newspaper editor and a threat to arrest an opposition leader.

Davison Maruziva, editor of the Standard newspaper was arrested on Thursday on charges of publishing false statements prejudicial to the state and contempt of court. The charges arose from an article written by Arthur Mutambara, leader of the breakaway-wing of the Movement for Democratic Change that was published on April 20. Police said Mr Mutambara faced similar charges. The article was highly critical of President Mugabe, accusing him of intimidation and urging him to step down from the presidency.

Zimbabwe has been in limbo since disputed presidential and parliamentary elections in March. After weeks of delay - and amid claims that the ruling Zanu-PF were attempting to rig the vote - it was announced that the MDC had won the largest number of seats in parliament and that its leader Morgan Tsvangiral had won 47.9 per cent of the vote, with Mr Mugabe trailing on 43.2 per cent.

This had set the scene for a presidential run-off although the MDC has still to decide whether to contest. Reports of intimidation and violence against opposition supporters have lead many to suggest that a fair run-off would not be possible.

Mr Maruziva's arrest followed that of a South African-based Reuters photographer, Howard Burditt who has been in detention since Monday accused of using a satellite phone to transmit pictures. He had still to be charged yesterday.

Read on . . .

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:00am on May 6, 2008 Passage Of The Day

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

On the Mugabe government's grudging admission that Robert Mugabe was outpolled in last month's presidential election:

After a month of incubation, any results from the electoral commission or the government have to be regarded with scepticism, analysts caution. Diplomats note that, conveniently for the regime, Mr Tsvangirai's figure was at the lowest end of a projection by independent monitors; Mr Mugabe's was at the highest end of his projected figure. The MDC has rejected the leaked figures as fraudulent, insisting its leader won an outright victory and suggesting the leak was designed to prepare the ground for a run-off.

But it is still striking that the presidential figures leaked by government concede that for the first time in his 28 years in power, Mr Mugabe suffered an electoral defeat.

"Probably they did want to do a bit of rigging but then found it harder than they hoped," said one regional diplomat. "The motives for having a recount and delaying the release were wholly impure but the result is clearly less corrupted than they would have wanted."

Remarkably, this constitutes tremendous progress in Zimbabwe.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:59am on May 3, 2008 The Fix Is In

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I suppose that after all of this time, it should come as no surprise that the Mugabe regime was going to try to steal the presidential election in Zimbabwe. But the regime doesn't have to be so unbelievably obvious about it:

Zimbabwe's tortuous electoral process lurched into another phase on Friday as the much-maligned Zimbabwe Electoral Commission cut short what it called a "verification" of presidential election results by candidates in the March 29 ballot and their agents, announcing the first-round results and calling for a presidential runoff election.

Opposition representatives present for the "verification" process expressed outrage and stalked out of the proceedings at the Harare International Conference Center, the focus of attention during immediate post-election vote tallies which stretched out for weeks leading to the sudden unveiling of presidential results this week.

The electoral commission said opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai had outpolled President Robert Mugabe with 47.9% of ballots compared with 43.2%, declaring that Tsvangirai had nonetheless failed to surmount the hurdle of 50% plus one vote required to lock up the presidency in the first round, requiring a second.

Tsvangirai's representatives in the so-called "verification" exercise protested that they had not been allowed to challenge any of the commission's compilations. His party contends that he took at least 50.3% of first-round presidential votes.

As the story indicates, there is some doubt over whether the MDC will contest the runoff election. I can't believe that it wouldn't; in the current environment, failing to contest the runoff election would be tantamount to giving Robert Mugabe yet another term.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:17am on Apr. 28, 2008 The Nightmare In Zimbabwe

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

If it can be believed, the post-election environment in Zimbabwe has become even more horrifying than the pre-election environment was. Once again, Robert Mugabe manages to sink to the expectations of others:

Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, sinks to new depths in his campaign to force the opposition into exile before an expected run-off in presidential elections.

Twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six were among the 250 people rounded up in a raid on Friday, according to Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Yesterday they were crammed into cells in Southerton police station in central Harare.

"This is ruthlessness of the worst kind. How can you incarcerate children whose mothers have fled their homes hoping to give their children refuge?" asked an emotional Chamisa yesterday. "In Mugabe's Zimbabwe even children are not spared the terror that befalls their parents."

The families were rounded up from MDC headquarters, where they had sought refuge from violence in the countryside.

Thought to be directed by top military officers, Operation Where Did You Put Your Cross? has prompted thousands to flee. They are trying to escape the so-called war veterans, who are attacking people and burning down hundreds of houses for voting "incorrectly" in last month's elections.

"What we're seeing is an undeclared civil war," said Chamisa. "It's genocide. This situation is out of control, it's now beyond the capacity of the MDC alone. It requires the region, the continent, the international community to act."

More here. Mugabe's capacity to appall and disgust seems to know no bounds.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:42pm on Apr. 20, 2008 Setting The Bar Lower Still

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Just when you think that Robert Mugabe has tapped out his talent for annihilating Zimbabwe, we are confronted with this:

Edmund Zimba has a deep scar on the side of his face from a hatchet wound inflicted by a supporter of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party. Until last weekend the scar, legacy of a previous crackdown by Zanu-PF, dominated the young opposition activist's face.

But on Saturday night it was eclipsed by an even more hideous injury. His lower jaw is now a mishmash of stitches and dried blood after a Zanu-PF supporter attacked him with a bottle and left him for dead.

It was the day after Zanu-PF said President Robert Mugabe would take on Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, in a run-off after the ruling party's apparent defeat in last month's presidential election.

"He was saying: `You opposition people are going too far. Why are you crying for the results [of the elections]?'" Mr Zimba recalled. "As he started to kick me he yelled: `The ruling party is always the ruling party.'"

And via an e-mail from Josh Treviño, we see that Mugabe wants to make conditions more violent still. At this point, it is safe to say that even Satan would weep over what has been done to Zimbabwe.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:50pm on Apr. 17, 2008 Kthnxby!

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The opposition in Zimbabwe has had quite enough of Thabo Mbeki:

South Africa's year-old role as chief mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis was thrown into doubt last night after the Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, called on President Mbeki to step down.

In a sign of the increasing divisions in the region over South Africa's policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe's autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai said he had called on the Southern African Development Community, the regional grouping, to lead a new initiative led by the Zambian government.

His call threatens to draw a line under not just a year of formal mediation by South Africa but also nearly eight years in which Mr Mbeki has led international efforts to tackle Zimbabwe's escalating crisis.

"We want to thank President Mbeki for all of his efforts but President Mbeki needs to be relieved of his duties," the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said in Johannesburg.

He had called on Levy Mwanawasa, Zambia's president, who last year described the situation in Zimbabwe as akin to a "sinking Titanic" to head a new effort to resolve the crisis which has intensified since last month's elections. "I have made a specific request to President Mwanawasa to say that he needs to lead a new initiative... that will expand beyond President Mbeki," Mr Tsvangirai said.

This should surprise no one. Given Mbeki's relative cluelessness--remember, this is the guy who fatuously claimed that Zimbabwe was not in a crisis situation--it is clear that he can no longer do the job. Any mediator would likely be a step up after him.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:45pm on Apr. 17, 2008 Mugabe And His Money

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Problem: Inflation in Zimbabwe is completely and utterly out of control.

Solution: A company gets hired to print massive amounts of money . . . to fund further power grabs for the Mugabe regime.

Here's the story. It's not pretty.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:01am on Apr. 17, 2008 Thabo Mbeki Makes No Sense

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

See if you can make heads or tails out of this:

South African President Thabo Mbeki has defended his record on Zimbabwe, while playing down the crisis at a UN debate.

His governing ANC party, however, said it was concerned about the deepening crisis brewing in its neighbour.

Gordon Brown told the UN Security Council no one believed Robert Mugabe won last month's presidential election in the country.

Meanwhile, the opposition in Zimbabwe said 50 supporters were arrested after a strike over delayed poll results.

Mr Mbeki had said there was "no crisis" in Zimbabwe after meeting Mr Mugabe on Saturday.

He defended those remarks in New York, saying dialogue was essential to bring about a resolution to the situation in Zimbabwe, where 18 days after presidential elections, electoral officials have yet to announce a result.

"The solution to the problem of Zimbabwe lies in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe," he said.

"In our engagement with the situation, we needed to talk continuously at all times with both the ruling party and the opposition."

Relatedly, Josh Trevino is kind enough to direct my attention to this:

China has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, raising fears the consignment has been brought in to crush any attempts to unseat Robert Mugabe from power.

The consignment has cost the regime millions of United States dollars and came through Durban harbour in a Chinese registered vessel, An Yue Juang.

It includes 3 million rounds of ammunition for AK47 rifles, the standard assault weapon for the country's defence forces. There were also 1,500 rocket propelled grenades, a support weapon for the infantry, plus 3,500 mortar bombs.

If true, this would make for something of a crisis, now wouldn't it? What sayeth Mr. Mbeki?

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:34am on Apr. 16, 2008 Crackdown

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Recently, we had a bevy of leaders from southern Africa declare solemnly that Zimbabwe was not in a crisis situation. Today, we see that there has been a change of tune:

Calls by Zimbabwe's opposition for a national strike on Tuesday to protest against the authorities' failure to release election results met a lacklustre response, reflecting what even activists concede is the difficulty of taking on the state on the streets.

On the diplomatic front, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change had a boost when the ruling party in South Africa, the region's dominant power, distanced itself from the "quiet diplomacy" of the country's president, Thabo Mbeki.

The African National Congress said it regarded the situation in Zimbabwe as "dire" with "negative consequences" for the region and called for the release of the results "without delay". This was far stronger language than Mr Mbeki used at the weekend when after meeting Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, he suggested there was no crisis.

But the overall mood in the MDC remained bleak. On Tuesday night, 2½ weeks after polls closed, the state-run Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had still not re-leased the results of the presidential election, which independent projections and the MDC's figures based on official polling returns indicate Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC leader, won.

The article appears to vacillate between speculation that the populace will soon explode in outrage and resignation that the population will back down because, in the words of one dissident, "you cannot protest against AK-47's." It remains to be seen whether the people of Zimbabwe will fold before the efforts of the Mugabe government to steal the election. But it cannot be denied any longer that an attempt to steal the election is in fact taking place and that the Mugabe government appears to be increasingly confident in its ability to cheat the Zimbabwean people.

If this isn't a "crisis," I don't know what is.

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:03am on Apr. 15, 2008 Reverting To The Norm In Zimbabwe

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

After an election period in which hopes rose for serious and fundamental democratic reforms, the status quo in Zimbabwe has returned with a vengeance:

The Zimbabwean political opposition suffered a rebuff Monday when the High Court dismissed its demand that the results of the presidential election last month be made public immediately.

The court accepted the election commission's explanation that it was investigating anomalies in some of the voting districts, according to an Associated Press report. "It can therefore justify the delay," the court ruled.

A spokesman for the main opposition party, Nqobizitha Mlilo, confirmed that the court had dismissed its demand, and said the party, the Movement for Democratic Change, was still considering how it would react to the ruling. The opposition had already threatened to hold a general strike this week. Later Monday, news agencies in Harare, the capital, quoted opposition officials as saying they would go ahead with the strike.

Zimbabwean election officials have yet to announce the winner of the presidential election, which was held March 29, causing widespread suspicions that President Robert Mugabe, who has been president since the country won its independence 28 years ago, is refusing to accept defeat.

Is there any real doubt that Mugabe has lost? And relatedly, is there any real doubt that in order to keep power, Mugabe will resort to violence if necessary?

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:22am on Apr. 12, 2008 Zimbabwe Update For The Day

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

It's business as usual.

Posted at 11:38pm on Apr. 8, 2008 From The "Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" Department

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Behold.

For the first time in my life, being a billionaire seems like a bad thing.

Posted at 1:10am on Apr. 8, 2008 It's Official

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Robert Mugabe has decided to keep Zimbabwe in Hell:

President Robert Mugabe has thrown his weight behind militias waging a campaign of intimidation in rural areas where the opposition has made inroads intensifying concerns that a presidential run-off will be scarred by state-sponsored violence.

Gangs of self-styled veterans of the war of independence surrounded six farms in the central Zimbabwean area of Masvingo, on Saturday and twelve farms in the northern area of Mashonaland Central on Sunday, forcing several of the farmers to flee.

The areas were traditionally Mr Mugabe's strongholds, but in the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections, they recorded a shift in support to Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The attacks were seen as a way of intimidating rural voters and also of reviving the anti-white rhetoric that has fuelled Mr Mugabe's campaigns in the past.

The state-run Herald newspaper on Monday quoted Mr Mugabe calling on Zimbabweans to safeguard the land from former colonisers. "Land must remain in our hands. The land is ours, it must not be allowed to slip back into the hands of whites," he is quoted as saying. "We cannot afford to retreat in the battle for land."

Get ready for violence. It is inevitable.

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