4 December 2002
Remarks By President Morgan Tsvangirai Of The Movement For Democratic Change At A Fund-Raising Dinner For Survivors Of Political Violence
Harare, Zimbabwe
Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen
We meet here understandably confused as to what has become of our nation.
We are gathered here to reflect on what in normal societies could be regarded as an unthinkable occasion: to meet with the survivors of violence and to remember those who fell victim to violence.
We believe the common enemy of any legitimate government is poverty, disease and ignorance, not fellow citizens.
The widespread nature of state-sponsored violence, unleashed on a poor and desperate people has turned the whole country into a detention camp. There are violent attitudes, violent actions and violent structures, everywhere.
Those attacking their neighbours must realise that they need help. They have something in common with their neighbours than with the politicians who exploiting their poverty for selfish ends.
Unless we act decisively, we may never secure our own release from such a camp before we are either extremely ill or die.
We can all see clearly that we are headed for an inferno. You need only need to listen to radio and television to understand the depth of desperation in this country.
The language on air does not reflect the reality on the ground. Lying has never been as widespread in Zimbabwe as it is today. State institutions have turned away from reality and are scared to speak out. A similar situation in Rwanda marked the beginning of a major genocidal catastrophe.
Poverty is everywhere. Like I said before, poverty beats all possibilities. It leads to mistrust and hopelessness, depriving the poor of their thinking capacity and creativity.
To make matters worse, poverty leads to dangerous attitudes which drive people away from their primary sources of hope.
It is my view and the view of the majority of our supporters that the time has come for us to declare that enough is enough. We have been very patient with this regime despite extreme provocation and constant harassment.
We have waited for our neighbours to assist us in resolving these issues to no avail. The global community seems frozen in its seats and preoccupied with other issues. In essence, Zimbabweans are on their own, in this gruelling struggle to remain alive.
None of us can afford to stand by and watch the total destruction of all that we have built over the past 22 years.
We must confront the regime and reclaim our right to act, register dissent and to engage in all forms of peaceful of protests.
Mass action is a universal right. People must be allowed to express themselves and register their displeasure with the manner in which unpopular regimes handle the fundamental question of governance in any society.
After the March electoral fraud, we have watched with disgust the country slide deeper and deeper into chaos.
All the indications point to an inevitable and speedy collapse of the Mugabe regime under the weight of its criminal, inept and disastrous economic policies that has driven millions into starvation and penury; its violent war against the people and its justly deserved international isolation as the pariah state that it has become.
We have now entered the last phase of a resolute and unstoppable push to remove a predatory, corrupt, violent and illegitimate regime. As a party whose victory was clearly stolen by Mugabe and Zanu PF, we fought hard to restrain our people from taking the law into their own hands.
We fought hard to calm down emotions and tempers after the majority realised that the struggle was still far from over.
I wish to state here today that we can not continue to play this role because of the pressure on us from a desperate people whose avenues to be heard are constantly being closed off by the regime.
The majority are saying they can’t take it any longer despite our appeals to them to remain steadfast and continue to resist evil. A repressive infrastructure that daily violate their fundamental basic rights is being fortified.
Any attempts to defy unjust and inhuman laws that are the very cause of our present predicament are being met with brute force, intolerance and reprisals.
In the context of the illegitimate regime’s brutal war against the forces of democracy and good governance we remain intensely focussed on our agenda for change.
We stand ready to implement an imaginative and effective package of policies and programmes to haul back our country from the brink of catastrophe.
We are determined to bringing about good governance for the people.
We will put an end to all corrupt practices; restore the rule of law; respect human rights; rebuild our national institutions and re-professionalize our security forces so that the they remain true to the purposes for which they were originally intended.
We will create an enabling environment for business to do what it does best. We believe that the business of business is business and an MDC government will facilitate this basic pursuit.
We will roll back the frontiers of government interference. We will remove government from the backs of the people and make them free again.
Zanu PF has completely failed to move out the mess it created. As we have stated before, we are prepared assist provided that party agrees to work with us on the following conditions:
- The immediate retirement of Mugabe;
- The establishment of a transitional authority to take over the administration of the country;
- The authority, in concert with Parliament, will have to:
- rebuild trust and put in place a conducive climate for free political activity;
- attend to the abandoned constitutional reform process by appointing an independent Electoral Commission to prepare and manage fresh Presidential, parliamentary and local council elections to enable the people to choose the future;
- prepare a transitional programme lasting between 12 and 18 months. The programme must be supervised by representatives of key interest groups, stakeholders and major political parties;
- open up our vital links and relationships with the international community to enable our people to reclaim their power and access funding necessary for economic reconstruction, for the restoration of international goodwill and the revival of commerce and industry;
- if managed well, the entire process must finally lead to a free and fair Presidential election conducted by an independent electoral authority, supervised by Zimbabweans and observed by the international community.
Unless we begin to move in that direction, Zimbabwe will continue to bleed and slide into deeper chaos. For what is worth, let us remind Zimbabwe that in our talks with Zanu PF soon after the flawed March election, we agreed on an agenda that recognised the need to create conditions for political political activity. That issue, among others, covered the following:
- The Constitution, the laws of Zimbabwe and the legitimacy of elections and government in zimbabwe;
- Zimbabwe's sovereignty, multi-party politics and the need for confidence-building measures; and
- Violence
Mugabe and Zanu PF must move beyond what has now become their habitual assumption that the MDC will disappear through violence.
They must accept that no amount of demonisation in the public media will bring lasting peace to a country they systematically destroyed in their quest to hold onto power.
The MDC is fighting for good governance in Zimbabwe. If there are nations, organisations and ordinary people elsewhere who feel compelled to identify with that struggle, who are we to tell them to shut up?
If Zimbabwe under Mugabe does not match the standard for rights based society as understood by the Americans or the British or anybody in the West, could that be a legitimate reason for Mugabe to label us puppets of those countries?
Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen
Our goal is not only to end this era of tyranny, but to begin something completely new. We seek to raise the profile of ordinary Zimbabweans by bringing about positive changes within our citizens by restoring their values and dignity as human beings. We shall build a nation in which problems are tackled with courage and in a constructive manner.
If we are to avoid bloodshed and achieve the change we have been trying to secure over the past three years, there is no other way.
We can not be expected to contain the peoples anger any longer and the sooner Zanu PF and Mugabe begin to think seriously about the future, the better for us all.
The economy of the country has totally collapsed. As MDC we have an economic rescue plan designed to re-open the closed factories, launch an expansive public works programme to alleviate housing shortages and create jobs, attract new investment and expand employment opportunities.
We will resuscitate mutually beneficial bilateral relations and re-engage the multilateral financial institutions.
Our international partners stand ready to respond to a clear signal from us to come in and team up with us in a determined effort to revive the shattered economy.
According to the UNDP: Ending human poverty requires a democratic space in which people can articulate demands, act collectively, and fight for a more equitable distribution of power.
As you all know, these shocking levels of violence will come to an end. Violence is sign of weakness. The more the perpetrators enjoy it, the weaker they become.
We remain resolute in our quest for a better life for all.
I thank you.
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