ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) launches its presidential campaign in Mutare

Record ID: 345703

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) launches its presidential campaign in Mutare
  • Date: 25th February 2008
  • Summary: (AD1) MUTARE, ZIMBABWE (FEBRUARY 23, 2007) (REUTERS) RALLY GROUNDS MDC (MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE) BANNER VARIOUS OF CROWD WOMEN CHANTING BANNER SAYING "MUGABE MUST GO" MDC PRESIDENT, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, ARRIVING AT VENUE CROWD TSVANGIRAI SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) MDC PRESIDENT, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "The only programme the dictatorship has experienced for the people of Zimbabwe is poverty, exile, starvation and disease." CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (English) MDC PRESIDENT, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "I don't have a certificate at university level, but if a certificate at university level is a yard stick for successful leadership, then Zimbabwe should have a successful economy because Mugabe has 80 degrees including one in violence." CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (English) MDC PRESIDENT, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "Zimbabwe is one of the greatest humanitarian crises facing the world, we need food, we need drugs and we need medical care. The nations of the world are ready to help us but we need more." MDC SUPPORTERS WATCHING FROM TOWER
  • Embargoed: 11th March 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zimbabwe
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA31TWB99BIUCFXF778HM2PYYL8
  • Story Text: Zimbabwe's main opposition party vowed on Saturday (February 23) to sweep President Robert Mugabe from power in next month's elections and restore the nation's shattered economy and international reputation.
    The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has come closest to unseating Mugabe in recent elections. But the MDC is limping into the March 29 poll, weakened by a violent government crackdown on anti-Mugabe activists, divisions within its ranks and the emergence of a rival presidential candidate from Mugabe's party.
    Launching his election campaign in this eastern border town near Mozambique, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the largest of two MDC factions, told supporters Zimbabweans were ready to end Mugabe's 28-year rule and hand the MDC power.
    "The only programme the dictatorship has experienced for the people of Zimbabwe is poverty, exile, starvation and disease," Tsvangirai said in a stadium in Mutare, some 265 km (165 miles) east of the capital Harare.
    "I don't have a certificate at university level, but if a certificate at university level is a yard stick for successful leadership, then Zimbabwe should have a successful economy because Mugabe has 80 degrees including one in violence," he continued.
    Political analysts say 84-year-old Mugabe, who also officially launched his re-election campaign on Saturday with a rally in Beitbridge on Zimbabwe's border with South Africa, may face the most serious political challenge of his career next month.
    Tsvangirai and former Finance Minister Simba Makoni are the main contenders running against Mugabe in the presidential poll.
    But the opposition could divide the anti-Mugabe vote and hand the veteran leader another five years in office. Tsvangirai, who accuses Mugabe of rigging past elections, has refused to run a joint campaign with Makoni, while a splinter MDC group has thrown its weight behind the former finance minister.
    Both Tsvangirai and Makoni are campaigning on a platform of ending Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which they and Western nations blame on government mismanagement and policies, such as the seizure of thousands of white-owned farms.
    Zimbabweans are struggling to survive amid surging inflation, now above 100,000 percent, unemployment of more than 80 percent and chronic shortages of food, fuel and water. Millions have left the country to look for work and food.
    "Zimbabwe is one of the greatest humanitarian crises facing the world, we need food, we need drugs and we need medical care. The nations of the world are ready to help us but we need more," Tsvangirai added.
    Tsvangirai on Saturday raised the prospect that a new government could tap the goodwill of Western nations and others who want to see Mugabe and the ZANU-PF administration ousted.
    Although Tsvangirai's MDC has said it doubts the general elections will be free and fair, it has decided to contest them anyway.
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