Mocking the World
June 14th, 2008Just listen to what that monster said today about the ongoing “election” in his country.
The Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, sounding ever more pugnacious, said Saturday that he was prepared to go to war if he lost a runoff election to the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on June 27. Speaking at the burial of a former army general, Mr. Mugabe, who at 84 has held power for 28 years, was quoted by Reuters as saying, “These pathetic puppets taking over our country? Let’s see. That’s not going to happen.”
Mr. Mugabe finished second to Mr. Tsvangirai in balloting on March 29, but the margin was not enough to avoid a runoff. Mr. Mugabe portrays his challenger as a bootlicker to the British, Zimbabwe’s colonial masters. And he seems determined to deter Mr. Tsvangirai from publicly responding to his invectives and threats.
On Saturday morning, the opposition leader was detained by the national police yet again as he tried to campaign, this time at a roadblock at the central town of Shurugwi. Mr. Tsvangirai, who was released after a few hours, has been repeatedly stopped by authorities in the past week. His party, the Movement for Democratic Change, issued a statement calling the detentions part of a pattern of “harassment and intimidation.”
He’ll deserve whatever he gets from the voters and the opposition, and I just hope that justice can be served in this situation. It has gone on far too long and if it ends with Mugabe in power then the international community has failed yet again to promote and protect democracy and human rights.