Is it that some in the MDC leadership want peacekeepers but Morgan
Tsvangirai doesn't want to go that far in dependence on Western
powers? Or is it that Tsvangirai wants peacekeepers but doesn't want
to explicitly call for them? -- Yoshie
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/zimbabwe1>
Letters
A statement from Zimbabwe
* The Guardian,
* Thursday June 26, 2008
* Article history
An article that appeared in my name, published in the Guardian (Why I
am not running, June 25), did not reflect my position or opinions
regarding solutions to the Zimbabwean crisis. Although the Guardian
was given assurances from credible sources that I had approved the
article this was not the case.
By way of clarification I would like to state the following: I am not
advocating military intervention in Zimbabwe by the UN or any other
organisation. The MDC is committed to finding an African solution to
the crisis in Zimbabwe and appreciates the work of the SADC in this
regard. I am asking the African Union and SADC to lead an expanded
initiative, supported by the UN, to manage the transitional process.
We are proposing that the AU facilitation team sets up a transitional
period that takes into account the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
It is the opinion of the MDC that to address the immediate political,
social and economic crisis facing us, four actions must be taken with
immediate effect. The violence must stop immediately. Emergency
humanitarian organisations must be allowed to operate freely and
without hindrance throughout the country. All political prisoners must
be freed immediately. Parliament and senate must be sworn in and begin
working on the people's business.
We in the MDC appreciate the overwhelming international support from
numerous organisations and leaders who recognise that the time for
finding a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis is now. We are committed,
with the mandate we have from the people, to play the necessary role
to ensure that a peaceful, sustainable solution is achieved.
Morgan Tsvangirai
President, MDC
<http://74.125.39.104/search?q=cache:wp0Kad1KLHYJ:www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/25/zimbabwe.civilliberties%3Fgusrc%3Drss%26feed%3Dnetworkfront+%22Why+I+am+not+running%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=de&client=firefox-a>
Send in the UN peacekeepers now
My people are at breaking point. World leaders' bold rhetoric must be
backed with military force
* Morgan Tsvangirai
*
o Morgan Tsvangirai
o The Guardian,
o Wednesday June 25, 2008
o Article history
In the course of the last few tumultuous months, I have often had
cause to consider what it is that makes a country. I believe a country
is the sum of its many parts, and that this is embodied in one thing:
its people. The people of my country, Zimbabwe, have borne more than
any people should bear. They have been burdened by the world's highest
inflation rates, denied the basics of democracy, and are now suffering
the worst form of intimidation and violence at the hand of a
government purporting to be of and for the people. Zimbabwe will break
if the world does not come to our aid.
Africa has seen this all before, of course. The scenario in Zimbabwe
is numbingly familiar. A power-crazed despot holding his people
hostage to his delusions, crushing the spirit of his country and
casting the international community as fools. As we enter the final
days of what has been a taxing period for all Zimbabweans, it is
likely that Robert Mugabe will claim the presidency of our country and
will seek to further deny its people a space to breath and feel the
breeze of freedom.
I can no longer allow Zimbabwe's people to suffer this torture, for I
believe they can bear no more crushing force. This is why I decided
not to run in the presidential run-off. This is not a political
decision. The vote need not occur at all of course, as the Movement
for Democratic Change won a majority in the previous election, held in
March. This is undisputed even by the pro-Mugabe Zimbabwe electoral
commission.
Our call now for intervention seeks to challenge standard procedure in
international diplomacy. The quiet diplomacy of South African
President Thabo Mbeki has been characteristic of this worn approach,
as it sought to massage a defeated dictator rather than show him the
door and prod him towards it.
We envision a more energetic and, indeed, activist strategy. Our
proposal is one that aims to remove the often debilitating barriers of
state sovereignty, which rests on a centuries-old foundation of the
sanctity of governments, even those which have proven themselves
illegitimate and decrepit. We ask for the UN to go further than its
recent resolution, condemning the violence in Zimbabwe, to encompass
an active isolation of the dictator Mugabe.
For this we need a force to protect the people. We do not want armed
conflict, but the people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation
from global leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military
force. Such a force would be in the role of peacekeepers, not
trouble-makers. They would separate the people from their oppressors
and cast the protective shield around the democratic process for which
Zimbabwe yearns.
The next stage should be a new presidential election. This does indeed
burden Zimbabwe and create an atmosphere of limbo. Yet there is hardly
a scenario that does not carry an element of pain. The reality is that
a new election, devoid of violence and intimidation, is the only way
to put Zimbabwe right.
Part of this process would be the introduction of election monitors,
from the African Union and the UN. This would also require a
recognition of myself as a legitimate candidate. It would be the best
chance the people of Zimbabwe would get to see their views recorded
fairly and justly.
Intervention is a loaded concept in today's world, of course. Yet,
despite the difficulties inherent in certain high-profile
interventions, decisions not to intervene have created similarly dire
consequences. The battle in Zimbabwe today is a battle between
democracy and dictatorship, justice and injustice, right and wrong. It
is one in which the international community must become more than a
moral participant. It must become mobilised.
· Morgan Tsvangirai is leader of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe
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