Mugabe bans rallies on birthday

Mugabe bans rallies on birthday

• Morgan Tsvangirai: we must express ourselves through action

• David Coltart: a descent into lawlessness

• Riot police patrol Harare suburb

• 3 feared dead as police crush rally

• Mutambara injured in car crash - party

• Mutambara turns heat on Mugabe

• Mutambara: defying Mugabe, a call to action

• US embassy denies Herald report on MDC meeting

• MDC denies meeting US ambassador

• Morgan Tsvangirai: The time to act is now!

• Gugulethu Moyo: Macho does not prove mucho, Mr Mutambara

• Mutambara: setting the Zimbabwean agenda for 2007

• MDC e-mails: Mukonoweshuro and Dewa

• Tsvangirai faces UK rebellion

• Former Tsholotsho MP dies

• Tsvangirai leads street demonstration

• Gabriel Chaibva: MDC united on unity talks

• Mutambara takes campaign to birth place

• Police ban visits to ailing MDC activist

• Paul Themba Nyathi: Zimbabwe's expensive democracy

By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe marked his 83rd birthday Wednesday with a police ban on political rallies and a suggestion that though some party members wanted him out of power, he would not bow to pressure.

The three month ban, announced in state newspapers, followed weekend clashes between the police and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters in Harare's Highfield township - a traditional hotspot of opposition politics. Riot squads fired teargas and water cannon to stop the rally.

Police in Harare published notices saying there had been "pandemonium, looting and destruction of property" following opposition political rallies, prompting the ban until May.

State media has said the government feared the MDC wanted to use the rally to launch new protests against Mugabe's rule, but the MDC said it wanted to start its 2008 presidential campaign.

The MDC denounced the ban as a sign of panic by the government, which faces mounting criticism over Zimbabwe's crumbling economy.

"They are trying to impose a state of emergency ... this is tantamount to banning the MDC and all political activity," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa, vowing to continue "to organise our meetings and rallies where necessary".

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, turned 83 today.

In an interview with Zimbabwe television to mark the birthday, Mugabe suggested some top officials from his ruling Zanu PF party were plotting to push him from office but denied talk he wanted to extend his rule, which the opposition says would worsen the already severe economic crisis.

The veteran Zimbabwean leader said some ambitious officials were already positioning themselves for the top job while others wanted him out before the end of his term.

"Every individual in the upper echelons is now looking at himself, positioning themselves," Mugabe said.

"And those who think they are most immediate are resorting to all kinds of nonsense," he said.

"On succession, yes they should go and talk about it, why not? But you do not talk about it in order to push President Mugabe out just now," he said.

Mugabe would not say whether he would retire when his current term ends in March 2008 but rejected charges that his party's plan to delay the presidential vote to 2010 to coincide with parliamentary polls was a ploy to extend his long rule.

Political tensions have been high in recent months as inflation surged to 1600 per cent - the highest in the world - and unemployment and food and fuel shortages hit average Zimbabweans.

Since the start of the year, Zimbabwe has witnessed a spate of industrial strikes for higher wages, including doctors and some teachers, and unions are threatening more job boycotts, which authorities fear could spill onto the streets.

Teachers from Zimbabwe's public primary and secondary schools - the majority group - went on strike today and an umbrella body for all government workers' unions said a meeting with the government later in the day would determine if more civil servants would join the job boycott.

Mr Mugabe denies running down the economy and says his government is a victim of a Western sabotage campaign over his policy of seizing land from white farmers to resettle blacks.

Police overnight continued to patrol some poor townships and the city centre, a show of force analysts said was meant to pre-empt any action by the opposition. - Reuters
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com