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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE United States and Canada have signaled their growing impatience with Morgan Tsvangirai, by voicing concern over recent attacks on his rivals for the MDC-T leadership.The party’s deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma, who has called on the MDC’T leader to step down, was beaten up outside the party HQ and secretary general Tendai Biti had a petrol bomb lobbed at his home.
Lisa Stadelbauer, the Canadian envoy to Zimbabwe, said her country was “increasingly concerned by recent acts of violence against political figures in Zimbabwe”, without naming the MDC-T.
“We call on all political parties to demonstrate leadership by taking resolute actions to speak out against violence and intimidation,” she said in a statement yesterday.
The United States, meanwhile, said it had “taken note of recent media reports on incidents of politically-motivated violence that have occurred in Harare.”
“We condemn such acts of violence, which have no place in modern political discourse,” the embassy said, while also curiously falling short of identifying the MDC-T by name.
“We enjoin all parties to respect the rule of law, freedom of assembly and the right to free speech, which should be in the hallmarks of the modern, democratic Zimbabwe.”
The US and Canada are among the MDC-T’s biggest donors, but Tsvangirai’s latest defeat to President Robert Mugabe last July and the recent attacks on Mangoma and Biti have strained relations with his donor-community supporters.
The Canadian envoy, appearing to make reference to moves by Tsvangirai supporters to stifle all discussions about a leadership change, said political parties must show leadership by “engaging in open dialogue and demonstrating respect for diversity of views.”
Over the years, the MDC-T has blamed Zanu-PF for political violence, but Biti and Mangoma recently admitted that there was a culture of violence within the MDC-T which drove the party to split in 2005.
Online Reporter