Morgan Tsvangirai [1], and not Robert Mugabe [2], has become the most poignant effigy symbolizing the tragedy that is Zimbabwe [3]. Much like the young nation that stood replete with promise and seemingly unlimited potential in the early 90's, Tsvangirai emerged as the most potent threat to Mugabe's tyranny at the turn of the century. Just like the country, once known as “Africa's breadbasket” has become Africa's basket case, Tsvangirai has turned into a tragic case of a could've been, should've been.
The increasingly isolated leader of the main opposition held a publicized press confrence announcing that Mugabe's efforts to hang on to power would be rebuffed. Unsurprisingly, this event, which early 1998 galvanized the nation's workers to a work stoppage that ground the nation to standstill was hardly noticed by ordinary Zimbwabeans. People are not happy with state of the nation, neither are they happy with Tsvangirai.
Bev Clark at Kubatanablogs [4] epitomizes the deep frustration felt by many Zimbabweans at the arbotive opposition:
Tsvangirai believes that elections are the way to go, either in 2008 or whenever. Never mind that we’ve had the last several elections stolen from under our noses. Yes of course we agree that the conditions need to be rectified in order to hold accountable and transparent elections but we also know that this is the very last thing that Mugabe will allow because it would be shooting himself in his own small foot.
So therefore we have the two dominant political parties in Zimbabwe playing the same old games. Zanu PF [5] is bound to win, and the MDC [6] is bound to lose – unless the MDC stops ploughing the same old barren fields of thought and action.
Using the judiciary as a political weapon
Meanwhile David Coltart, the MDC's shadow Justice minister penned a sharp rebuke of the government's priorities after a prominent judge publicly denounced government's poor regard of the judiciary on his blog [7]:
However the reason why this deleterious situation has been allowed to arise is because the Zanu PF regime does not care about justice and only tolerates the Judiciary in so far as it serves its purposes. Since 2000 law, and the justice system in general, has been used as a weapon against legitimate democratic opposition. Spurious charges have been brought against opposition leaders, activists and supporters; equally spurious trials have been held. Judges have delayed politically sensitive matters such as electoral petitions and applications for the release of activists, including MPs, causing serious miscarriages of justice. Many Judges have seriously compromised their independence by taking and occupying farms often unlawfully seized from commercial farmers.
Still on the judiciary, The Bearded Man [8] has a report about some white farmers who are making a last ditch effort at keeping their land by opposing impending redistribution of their land in court. He fatalistically opines, “Rest assured, Mugabe will make sure that even if the courts were to order the government to back down, they will ignore it, taking the farm by force if necessary.”
New blogger on the block
Be sure to check the newest Zimbabwean Blog: Zimbabwe:Outpost of Tyranny [9].