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| Africa: Southern |
| MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, appeals to people/ Daily News closed again |
| 2003-12-20 |
| EFL from BBC via World Wire He said the country was bleeding - and that a way forward must be found to stop it. Victory was in sight, he said, and 2004 would be the year of the people. Mr Tsvangirai was speaking at a conference of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the capital, Harare. He was given a warm reception by about 1,000 delegates, but the BBC’s Barnaby Phillips - reporting from neighbouring South Africa - says the MDC has been going through difficult times. It has organised successful strikes and stay-aways but, in the face of government brutality, has failed to bring people out on the streets, our correspondent says. The BBC is pessimistic and South Africa supports Bob, but the ANC worked through adversity in it’s day as well.There are disagreements within the party, with some activists demanding more mass action, while others say greater efforts should be made to revive negotiations with the government. Our correspondent says that, with the government controlling the media, the MDC has little room for manoeuvre. On Friday, police occupied the offices of Zimbabwe’s only privately-owned daily newspaper, despite a court ruling that it could resume publication. The Daily News, a strong critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government, was shut down by police three months ago, under tough media laws passed after Mr Mugabe’s controversial re-election last year. Zimbabwe’s Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said Friday’s judgement had no legal force. He described the ruling as "outrageously political, unacceptable", adding that an appeal had already been lodged with the Supreme Court. Lawyers for the paper say Judge Selo Nare, who made the ruling, had now asked for police protection. I don’t know that I would want Bob’s police protecting me in this situation. The guy has brass balls for making the ruling in the first place. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #1 It has organised successful strikes and stay-aways but, in the face of government brutality, has failed to bring people out on the streets, our correspondent says. Thank Mugabe and his cronies for that. Kind of hard to get politically motivated when your first priority is scrounging enough of the basics to stay alive. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-12-20 9:10:17 PM |