Weep for Zimbabwe

For a short, shining moment earlier this year, it looked like Robert Mugabe would be defeated through the ballot box, and Zimbabwe's long nightmare would be over. This weekend, we learned that the mass-murdering thug isn't going anywhere:

Bruised, bloodied and bowed, the Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from Friday’s presidential run-off election and called on the world to “intervene and stop the genocide” in Zimbabwe.

His decision, announced hours after thousands of ruling party militiamen stormed the venue where Mr Tsvangirai had planned to hold his main rally, grants unopposed victory to Robert Mugabe, who has sworn to rule Zimbabwe until he dies.

The European Union decried the development as “a travesty of democracy”, while David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that Zimbabwe now faced “a crisis of legitimacy”. The United Nations Security Council will raise the crisis today.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman George Chiwesh said last night that the election would take place. “The commission is going ahead with plans for the June 27 presidential run-off election which are now at an advanced stage,” he said. “As far as the commission is concerned the run-off is going ahead as Tsvangirai has not formally communicated his withdrawal.”

[...]

At a press conference at his home in Harare, Mr Tsvangirai said that he could no longer call on his supporters to risk their lives by voting for him. “Mr Mugabe has declared war and we will not be part of that war,” he said. “We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election.”

His withdrawal followed a campaign of terror orchestrated by Mr Mugabe’s military-backed regime that was unleashed after Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of voting in March.

I do not blame Tsvangirai for withdrawing from the campaign. In the face of such harassment and violence, lesser men would have quit a long time ago. Morgan Tsvangirai is one of the bravest men on earth, and deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. (Maybe he'll get it, as soon as they can think up a way his plight can be blamed on the Bush Administration.)

The people of Zimbabwe who've risked torture and death to support the opposition, and the incredibly courageous bloggers and journalists who've told that blighted nation's story to the outside world, are heroes. Everyone else who's watched this disaster unfold - especially Mugabe's fellow African leaders, most of whom will not say a word against an "anti-colonial" hero who's turned on his own people - should hang their heads in shame.

Hey, it's just another African basket case. Who cares?

Damian P.

Update: Mugabe wants Tsvangirai to stick around - to make the "election" look halfway legitimate, of course.

Posted by damian at June 23, 2008 09:13 AM