US embassy cable - 03HARARE1139

UNCLAS HARARE 001139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS AND AF/S RAYNOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION MASS ACTION IN ZIM; HARARE 
 
  1.   Under headline "What next after mass action?" the 
      independent daily "The Daily News" dedicated its 
      June 5 editorial to challenging the leadership of 
      the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) 
      to "come up with an imaginative and focused plan 
      that can save Zimbabwe" from the current 
      socioeconomic and political tragedy.  The call comes 
      in the wake of a week-long strike called by the MDC 
      that has successfully shut commerce and industry 
      during the last three days, despite government 
      threats to punish companies that failed to open. 
      Excerpts: 
 
  2.   "Zimbabweans, who stayed away from work this week to 
      demonstrate their anger at the government's 
      mismanagement of the country, will wake up next 
      Monday to find themselves facing exactly the same 
      problems which have killed their nation. . .But most 
      significantly, President Robert Mugabe will not have 
      resigned or conceded that he has failed to run 
      Zimbabwe and agreed to negotiations with the MDC, 
      the stated objectives of the opposition party's mass 
      action.  If anything, Zimbabweans can expect Mugabe 
      terrified into action by the huge success of this 
      week's stayaway to come out fighting to shore up his 
      tottering regime.  Having called upon Zimbabweans to 
      make the sacrifices that they made this week, with 
      many arrested or beaten up in public by State 
      security agents, we ask MDC leader Morgan 
      Tsvangirai: what next now?  Does the opposition 
      party. . .have any alternative and viable plan 
      beyond mere mass stayaways to free Zimbabweans from 
      this dictatorship. . .?  In as much as the mass 
      action this week is a sign that the government has 
      run out of options beyond brute military force, it 
      is also a wake-up call to Tsvangirai and the MDC to 
      strategize beyond stayaways and to always have an 
      alternative plan should the first one be thwarted by 
      the besieged government. . .The opposition party 
      must rapidly get its act together and come up with 
      an imaginative and focused plan that can save 
      Zimbabwe now and not to prolong the crisis. . . ." 
 
SULLIVAN