The police earlier this week banned at the last minute an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party protest march that they had initially allowed. When a magistrate’s court ruled on Wednesday that the MDC could proceed with the rally – the police had sought to ban – armed police descended on the opposition party’s supporters walking to the rally venue, beating them up and arresting several of people including party organising secretary, Elias Mudzuri. He was later released. The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) political pressure group said the police’s actions exposed the ineffectiveness of legal reforms agreed by the MDC and President Robert Mugabe’s governing ZANU PF party under Mbeki’s mediation. The reformed’ Public Order and Security Act (POSA) remains as fascist and repressive as ever. The amended version of the Act erodes freedom of association and expression, said Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the NCA that campaigns for new and democratic constitution for Zimbabwe. The reforms to the POSA, that police had used in the past to ban opposition gatherings, as well as two other tough laws governing the media and elections, were lauded as a key step towards opening up of democratic space and ensuring free and fair elections in March. Under the amended POSA, the opposition can appeal to the courts against banning of their activities by the police. Previously, appeals were directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. Madhuku said the police’s beating of MDC supporters on their way to a court-sanctioned rally showed that it remained dangerous for the opposition to organise and that truly democratic polls remained impossible in the face of deepening structural repression in the country. Mbeki has since last April led efforts by Southern African Development Community (SADC) to break Zimbabwe’s eight-year crisis by facilitating dialogue between ZANU PF and the MDC. After a surprisingly fruitful start which saw the parties reaching several agreements including key a constitutional amendment allowing holding of parliamentary and presidential elections this year, the talks appear to have virtually collapsed following differences over a new constitution and the date for polls. The MDC wants a new constitution agreed by negotiators implemented before polls that it says must be postponed to allow democratic reforms to take root before voting. Mugabe has ruled out postponing elections and says whoever wins the polls must decide when to call a referendum to decide on the new constitution. University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masunungure said Wednesday’s events appeared to suggest that Mugabe and ZANU PF might have negotiated in bad faith. My reading of the situation is that the MDC has exposed ZANU PF’s insincerity in the whole talks. The ruling party seems not to be willing to meet its part of the bargain in the whole deal, said Masunugure, adding that Mbeki would find it difficult to revive talks after the way police treated the MDC. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a loose coalition of more than 300 civic society organisations, said in a statement that the brutal attempts by the police to crush the MDC rally showed nothing had changed on the political field, with police and other state agents continuing to be used against Mugabe’s political opponents. Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic recession – blamed on repression and wrong policies by Mugabe -and seen in hyperinflation, a rapidly contracting GDP, the fastest for a country not at war according to the World Bank and shortages of every essential commodity. Analysts say free and fair polls in March are a prerequisite to any plans to resuscitate the southern African country’s once brilliant economy.
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