Zimbabwe’s opposition accused Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s party on Thursday of unleashing a new wave of brutality countrywide that had “killed” negotiations on forming a unity government.
Days ahead of a regional summit aimed at breaking an impasse in unity talks, an opposition spokesman denounced what he called “a new orgy of brutality.”
“ZANU-PF has unleashed a new orgy of brutality and assaults across the whole country,” Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Nelson Chamisa said in a statement.
“ZANU-PF has killed the dialogue despite the hopes, patience and expectations of the people of Zimbabwe,” Chamisa said.
The statement was released as southern African leaders prepared to meet tomorrow in South Africa in a bid to save a deal signed by Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Sept. 15.
ATTACKS, RAIDS
At least 25 MDC supporters were attacked in a Harare township on Oct. 27 by a ruling party militia, the statement said.
Three days later, security agents raided the home of a local MDC leader in the town of Banket, arresting nine people, including a two-year-old girl, it said.
The MDC also said that more than 100 activists remained in prison after they were arrested for holding a march during regional talks in Harare on Oct. 28.
Chamisa told reporters that Tsvangirai would still attend the summit, but said the attacks showed Mugabe’s lack of sincerity.
“ZANU-PF has to be honest and publicly say we no longer want these talks,” he said.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed in the Sept. 15 deal to form a unity government aimed at ending months of political turmoil and allowing the country to address a deep economic crisis.
But the deal has been stalled over disputes about how to divide control of the most powerful Cabinet posts, particularly the home affairs ministry, which oversees the police.
MAJOR HINDRANCE
On Thursday, the South African government said Zimbabwe’s political impasse was becoming a major hindrance to regional stability and urged the weekend summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to break the deadlock.
“We believe South Africa and the region cannot be held to ransom by parties who are failing to reach agreement on the allocation of cabinet posts,” government spokesman Themba Maseko told reporters in Pretoria.
“This is becoming a matter of extreme concern for us and we will be taking quite a hard stance to make sure that agreement is reached,” he said.
“The failure of the parties to agree is something that is becoming a major political hindrance to the stability that we desire” in southern Africa, Maseko said.
SUPPORT: Elon Musk’s backing for the far-right AfD is also an implicit rebuke of center-right Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk over his political judgement, escalating a spat between the German government and the world’s richest person. Scholz, speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, was asked about a post Musk made on his X platform earlier the same day asserting that only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party “can save Germany.” “We have freedom of speech, and that also applies to multi-billionaires,” Scholz said alongside Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “But freedom of speech also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon on Monday said that some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region. Those are the first reported casualties since the US and Ukraine announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost three-year war. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that about 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during a battle with the Ukrainian army at the weekend. The casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a
FREEDOM NO MORE: Today, protests in Macau are just a memory after Beijing launched measures over the past few years that chilled free speech A decade ago, the elegant cobblestone streets of Macau’s Tap Seac Square were jam-packed with people clamouring for change and government accountability — the high-water mark for the former Portuguese colony’s political awakening. Now as Macau prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of its handover to China tomorrow, the territory’s democracy movement is all but over and the protests of 2014 no more than a memory. “Macau’s civil society is relatively docile and obedient, that’s the truth,” said Au Kam-san (歐錦新), 67, a schoolteacher who became one of Macau’s longest-serving pro-democracy legislators. “But if that were totally true, we wouldn’t
TRUDEAU IN TROUBLE: US president-elect Donald Trump reacted to Chrystia Freeland’s departure, saying: ‘Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday quit in a surprise move after disagreeing with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over US president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats. The resignation of Freeland, 56, who also stepped down as finance minister, marked the first open dissent against Trudeau from within his Cabinet, and could threaten his hold on power. Liberal leader Trudeau lags 20 points in polls behind his main rival, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, who has tried three times since September to topple the government and force a snap election. “It’s not been an easy day,” Trudeau said at a fundraiser Monday evening, but
RSS