Following a campaign of brutal intimidation against opposition leaders and civil society activists and the second arrest of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in as many weeks, President Mugabe´s Zanu PF party is considering the future of its leader. As the Zimbabwean dollar continues to plummet and clashes between police and civilians increase, the international community waits as discussions take place concerning the president´s re-election. And it could be that the ´solidarity´ for Mugabe from the country´s neighbours is starting to falter. (30-MAR-07) 

Laura Mitchison from Index on Censorship reports.  

Police arrested Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, on 28 March, along with about 20 administrative staff at a press conference in Harare. Armed police raided the headquarters of the Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC) just hours before Mugabe flew to Tanzania for an emergency meeting with the Southern African Development Committee. Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economy and political instability topped the Committee’s agenda.
This is the second time Mr. Tsvangirai has been taken into custody in the last fortnight. On 11 March, the MDC leader suffered critical head injuries and internal bleeding after being arrested along with 110 activists on the way to a prayer meeting in Harare’s western township of Highfield. Heavily armed riot police used tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition to disperse the gathering. Gift Tandare, an activist with MDC, was shot dead by police.

Mr Tsvangirai had scheduled a press conference to discuss the increasingly brutal oppression of his party on the day of his second arrest. Seven leading MDC officials were picked up at gunpoint on 27 and 28 March; so far only one of them has been found. Last Maengahama, the shadow deputy minister, was severely beaten and left at a location 30 miles outside the capital, after being seized by plain-clothed agents.

The government denies responsibility for the beatings, but UK daily the Independent said there was evidence that attacks are being led by members of the ruling party using police-issue weapons and disguised in unmarked cars. 

Nightly battles between police and citizens in Harare
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) said that reports of military violence directed against civilians are increasing. Parts of Harare’s central business district were sealed off on 28 March, as armed forces conducted a ‘stop and search’ policy on random individuals, ostensibly to confiscate weapons, according to SW Radio Africa.

Police have also staged searches of opposition leader’s homes and persons, allegedly to confiscate weapon stocks. Police Chief Wayne Bvudzijena said that 53 sticks of dynamite and 35 detonators had been found in the Harare home of one MDC official, Piniel Denga.
MDC sources say that Zimbabweans in the crowded townships surrounding Harare are growing increasingly angry and defiant, and there have been widespread reports of unrest and fears that civilian clashes with the regime are inevitable.

Although heads of southern African states expressed ‘solidarity’ with Mugabe at the Tanzania summit, Tsvangirai’s second arrest prompted South Africa’s finance minister question  Mugabe’s political competence. Minister Trevor Manuel said in an interview with the Financial Times: ‘Why would you behave in such a silly fashion if you wanted to resolve the issues?’ The South African leadership has previously come under scrutiny from its constituents for favouring ‘quiet diplomacy’ over overt criticism of Mugabe’s regime. In contradiction to public displays of support for Mugabe, some leaders are said to be much more critical of the Mugabe regime outside of the public eye.
Furthermore, the 12-member Southern African Development Committee is worried that Zimbabwe’s collapse will have damaging repercussions for the entire region. The BBC reported that some African leaders are expected to advise Mugabe not to run for re-election in 2008. Mugabe has so far remained defiant in the face of international criticism, saying the opposition leaders deserve to be ‘bashed’.

Some local political commentators view the regime’s latest crackdown as a sign of ‘increasing desperation’. Robert Mugabe faces opposition within and beyond the party as the economy crisis continues to spiral downward, leaving vast sections of the population dependent on foreign food aid.