Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai led a demonstration of between 500 and 1 000 supporters from the party headquarters to Parliament calling for President RobertMugabe to step down.
Party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said details of the march were known only to Tsvangirai and a handful of organisers and that the national executive council learned about the march on the morning of the march.
Chamisa said the demonstration’s success would likely lead to further peaceful acts of resistance. The march had also shown opposition supporters that the party’s leadership was firmly behind peaceful resistance.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 06HARARE1067, TSVANGIRAI LEADS MARCH ON PARLIAMENT
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Reference ID |
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VZCZCXRO1235
RR RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #1067 2481342
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 051342Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0546
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1305
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1155
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1309
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0070
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0570
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0935
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1363
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 3737
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1132
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1774
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1520
C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001067
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR S.HILL
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2015
SUBJECT: TSVANGIRAI LEADS MARCH ON PARLIAMENT
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell for reasons 1.5 b/d
¶1. (U) Anti-Senate MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai led a
demonstration of between 500 and 1,000 supporters from the
party’s downtown Harare headquarters to Parliament in the
afternoon of September 1. Marchers, many of whom joined the
demonstration in progress, carried placards calling for
Mugabe to step down, and demanding free education and a new
constitution. At the end of the march, Tsvangirai,
accompanied by more than 50 members of the party’s national
executive council, delivered a petition and the party’s
roadmap for democratic change to Speaker of Parliament and
ZANU-PF chairman John Nkomo.
¶2. (SBU) According to press reports, the police appeared to
have been caught off guards by the march and failed to
respond quickly to what was the first MDC march since the
opposition’s fracture last October. Anti-Senate MDC
spokesperson Nelson Chamisa on September 5 told us that
details of the march were known only to Tsvangirai and a
handful of organizers and that the national executive council
learned about the march only that morning.
¶3. (SBU) Chamisa said the demonstration,s success would
likely lead to further peaceful acts of resistance. The
march had moreover shown opposition supporters that the
party’s leadership was firmly behind peaceful resistance.
Other MDC activists tell us the demonstration was only the
most visible of other “water testing” measures. For
instance, in rural Mashonaland West parents were being
encouraged to send their children to school ) which starts
today – even if they cannot pay the new, higher fees.
——-
Comment
——-
¶4. (C) After a round of well-attended rallies across the
country, Tsvangirai has finally put words into action and
conducted a successful, albeit minor, demonstration. It is
significant on several counts: it is the first march since
the opposition party’s fracture last October; it is the first
major action since Tsvagirai promised a &winter of
discontent8 at the MDC Congress in March; and, unlike MDC
demonstrations before the fracture, Tsvagirai personally led
it. Moreover, the lack of police reaction may boost the
MDC,s confidence and set the stage for future events.
DELL
(37 VIEWS)
