MDC says Mugabe has staged 'civilian coup'

MDC says Mugabe has staged 'civilian coup'

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By MacDonald Dzirutwe

ZIMBABWE'S main opposition and civic groups vowed on Monday to resist a "civilian coup" by the ruling party which has moved to extend President Robert Mugabe's term by two years.

An annual conference of Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party on Saturday "noted and adopted" a motion to move presidential polls from 2008 to 2010 so they can be held concurrently with parliamentary elections.

The resolution, which would give Mugabe two more years in power, must still be approved by the party's policy-making central committee and by parliament to be effective.

Analysts say this is virtually assured with Mugabe and his allies in control of both institutions.

"We strongly oppose this form of dictatorship and we will fight it," said Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for a faction of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "We will be consulting to come up with a fitting response."

Welshman Ncube, secretary general of another faction of the MDC, called the Zanu PF action a "civilian coup".

"No person should run the country without being mandated by an election. The decision to unilaterally amend the constitution without national consensus amounts to a civilian coup," he said.

"We will oppose all forms of coups. The national council of the MDC will meet in the new year to decide on what course of action to take," he added.

Analysts say the drive to prolong Mugabe's term of office would hurt Zimbabwe's chances of turning around an economy deep in recession, a crisis many blame on his policies.

Political commentators see the opposition, riven by divisions over how to confront Mugabe, as currently too weak to challenge the veteran Zimbabwe leader who has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1980.

But pressure group National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which advocates and holds regular protests to press for a new constitution, also vowed to fight what the opposition has called the work of a dictatorship.

"Our position is clear, there should be a new constitution before any future elections," Lovemore Madhuku, NCA chairman said. "We will be organising protests starting in January to press for constitutional reforms," he added.

Critics say Mugabe has used tough policing to keep the opposition at bay, with the police and at times the military cracking down on opposition and trade union protests.

Mugabe says there is consensus in Zanu PF to "harmonise" presidential and parliamentary polls in 2010 and that the resolution would be implemented.
Critics charge that Mugabe's policies, including the seizure of white-owned commercial farms for blacks, have hit the economy, forcing the country to import food from countries it used to feed.

Mugabe in turn charges that former colonial power Britain is fronting a Western campaign of sabotage to unseat him. He has vowed his government would not collapse under pressure. - Reuters

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