Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Harare (Agenzia Fides)- The Zimbabwean crisis heightens after Opposition leader Morgan took refuge at the Dutch Embassy in Harare on Sunday night 22 June to avoid being taken prisoner by the army. The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change MDC intends to stay for a few days not to request political asylum in Holland. Tsvangirai said he would withdraw his candidacy in the second round of the presidential election (see Fides 23/6/2008).
Repression of opposition members and militants has intensified in recent days. On June 23 police arrested about 60 persons at the MDC head offices. Since the first round of presidential elections on 29 March, heavy repression against the Opposition left 90 peopled dead, about 200 missing, 400 arrested, 3,000 injured and more than 30,000 people mainly in remote rural areas forced to abandon their homes.
International diplomacy, especially in Africa, is working to find a solution to the crisis. There have been calls to postpone the vote until 27 June from political leaders including other African leaders such as the president of Zambia, at the moment president of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal. The President of Zambia warned that "unless the vote is postponed there will be a catastrophe all over the region". President Wade explained why Opposition leader Tsvangirai was forced to take refuge in the Dutch Embassy. "I was told soldiers reached his home on Sunday but with the help of friends he had managed to escape only a few minutes earlier ".
UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, "firmly warned" the Zimbabwe authorities not to go ahead with the second round of presidential elections. In a resolution the UN Security Council condemned the Zimbabwe government "for denying the opposition leader the right to hold a free electoral campaign", but did not ask for a postponement of the elections. The final text of the resolution was softened at the request of certain African countries, particularly South Africa, whose government is criticised on various sides for being too lenient with the Mugabe regime. A regime which includes not only Mugabe, who is its symbol, but also and mainly a solid nucleus of generals and bureaucrats who use the figure of the President to prosper and hold on to power. With its central position in southern Africa, its recent past of anti-colonial struggle which made it a symbol for all Africa and its massive reserves of chrome, Zimbabwe attracts the interest of various powers anxious to extend their sphere of influence in Africa.
So the Zimbabwe crisis is more than a domestic matter, instead, as the UN secretary general said, " it is a serious challenge for southern Africa: at stake is the political and economic security of the whole region, and the very principle of elections in Africa". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 24/6/2008 righe 37 parole 529)
