We meet today as a severely battered nation run by a criminal government that no one wants to be associated with.

We have become the laughing stock of the world and our kith and kin are scattered across the globe in search for economic security and sustenance.

Those of us at home have been thrown back into a hunter-gatherer, subsistence society: without food, without jobs, without basic security and without our democratic rights.

Regardless of our sorry status and disabling plight, let me hasten to state that we are now on the home stretch.

Zimbabwe is definitely headed for a conclusion to this nightmare.

When it comes, the MDC is ready for the Zanu PF crash.

The MDC is ready to provide the essential leadership at this crucial stage
of our nation's development.

The era of piece-meal approaches to our problems is over.

We are nearing the end.

A new Zimbabwe and a new beginning shall soon become a reality.

Six years ago, some sceptics dismissed us as a joke. Six years ago, none of us thought the regime was prepared to initiate and lead the country to collapse and implosion just to defend their privileges and their hold onto
power.

We knew the dictatorship was determined to hang on, but not to the extent of smashing the people down to such a devastating level.

The assault continues in various forms. The latest being Operation Murambatsvina whose results put the Zimbabwe story firmly back onto the international radar screen.

Without food, without fuel, without foreign currency, and without friends, the regime has gone full circle back to the days when the Smith regime was isolated and sanctioned as a pariah State.

As we approach another agriculture season, the effects of the chaotic land reform programme are becoming more pronounced and it is now almost certain that we will be a food deficit country until 2007 whatever the weather does to us this summer.

Zimbabweans are experiencing the impact and uncertainty of the darkest hour, which, as you all know comes before dawn.

This regime has played a dangerous political game with people's basic sources of support and sustenance. Commerce and industry have collapsed. Our rural areas have become unproductive dust bowls.

Allow me, Mr. Chairman, to state categorically as the leader of the MDC that we can no longer counsel patience among the people.

Mugabe has made his position clear: he does not see the crisis in this country.

Those who see the crisis must deal with the situation on the ground.

Organize and protect yourselves against this regime.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentleman, the MDC cannot take this situation any longer. The people are at their most debased level.

The people have been humiliated through the actions of this regime. Families are stressed and violated.

The people are badly bruised. The nation risks permanent disability.

However, we must recognize that Mugabe and Zanu PF are now weaker than at any other time in our short history as a nation.

We must now use our unity; organization and our vision to elbow this criminal state aside and resolve the national political and economic crisis it has created against all local and international advice.

To do so effectively, we need to fashion key strategic re-alignments as part of our preparations for the ultimate demise of Zanu PF.

We must strengthen our critical mass for democratic resistance. Passive compliance with tyranny goes against the spirit of the founding principles of the MDC. Passive compliance compromises our focus for democratic change.

We must rally the people, the country and the international community to achieve our objective.

We must watch for opportunists who fall for the regime's patronage and pursue individual agendas to claim personal positions and fulfill personal interests.

The full scale implosion before us as a nation requires the pursuance of national objectives geared towards national renewal and far reaching challenges based on our experiences with elections, litigation, dialogue, mass action and the international campaign.

We are intensifying our international campaign against tyranny and dictatorship to reclaim Zimbabwe's legitimacy.

For as long as we live without a legitimate governing authority, no initiative can pull out of the crisis we are in - whether it is the re-introduction of the Senate or attempts to paper over our failures as a nation.

Our international partners and the world community at large must ignore Zanu PF and Mugabe's antics and put together a comprehensive package of humanitarian assistance for the people of Zimbabwe: medicinal drugs, food, seed, support for the poor and the vulnerable and other forms of relief. Without such assistance, millions of people here are at risk.

Our desire for comprehensive and holistic Constitutional reform remains one of our most cherished objectives. In 2000, the people rejected the flawed process of developing a new Constitution for Zimbabwe proposed by the regime.

The regime has refused to honour the people's verdict. It continues to tamper with the British-designed, Lancaster House Constitution, brought about as a transitional arrangement at Independence.

Twenty five years after independence, it is shame on us that we find ourselves without a home-grown guide to the way we govern ourselves which will confer democratic legitimacy to our own governments.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, we reject the latest ploy to avoid the critical national demand for a new Constitution by pushing through piece-meal amendments designed to pursue partisan interests.

Those who argue in favour of the way Zanu PF approaches the need for a new, home-grown Constitution have lost focus.

Those who wish to benefit from Zanu PF's cut-and-paste approach to Constitutionalism are working against the wishes of the majority of our people. They are sell-outs!

Zimbabweans have refused to settle for the lowest set of democratic standards. Zimbabweans demand the full recognition of values, norms, rights and opportunities in a democratic society as defined by universal custom and
practices.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to congratulate the people of Bulawayo for remaining steadfast in the support for democratic change. You recently re-elected our Executive Mayor with an overwhelming majority.

We are confident of a sweeping national victory over the dictatorship as all indications now point directly to the demise of the Mugabe regime. The regime is fast running out of time. The people look set to triumph, once again.

I thank you,

Morgan Tsvangirai is president of the Movement for Democratic Change
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