Mugabe's plan to take over Parliament

Times:

Fresh from his rigged election victory, Robert Mugabe and his military backers plan to assassinate or frame dozens of opposition MPs in an attempt to consolidate power and take back control of Parliament.

The Zanu (PF) party of Mr Mugabe lost its grip on the legislature for the first time since independence when the Movement for Democratic Change took control of the Lower House and drew level in the Senate after the March elections.

Having overturned Morgan Tsvangirai’s victory in the first round of the presidential vote with a brutal campaign of terror, President Mugabe’s henchmen believe that they can retake Parliament using violence or trumped-up criminal charges to drive out elected opposition MPs.

Leaked minutes from a meeting of the Joint Operation Command outline a strategy by which the MPs can be forced from office, sparking by-elections that Zanu (PF) planned to win by force. The original plan was to overturn the majority by challenging opposition wins through the courts, alleging that the results had been rigged. The refusal of judges to kowtow has led the regime to resort to tried and tested methods of violence.

Naison Nemadizwa, the newly elected MDC MP for Buhera South, was abducted in daylight on Tuesday as he emerged from the High Court in Harare having seen off a legal challenge by the losing Zanu (PF) candidate. Onlookers saw him bundled into the back of a waiting car and driven away after he became involved in an argument with a group of six men. One of his abductors was identified as a colonel in the army.

“We are starting to see a pattern emerge,” Nelson Chamisa, the MDC spokesman, said. “This is a consistent, co-ordinated strategy.” Ten opposition MPs have been arrested in recent weeks and two remain in custody while others are out on bail charged with a range of offences alleging their involvement in election violence. Another, Thamsanqa Mahlangu, remains in a coma after he was attacked by the Zanu (PF) youth militia on his way to Mr Tsvangirai’s election rally in Harare a week before the election. Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the election within hours of the attack, saying that he could no longer ask supporters to take such risks.

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Mugabe's "government" has become a RICO case. It is all about racketeering, influence peddling and corruption. The sooner these thugs are thrown in prison the safer the citizens of Zimbabwe will be. Botswana seems to be one of the few African countries to see the problem and has put its troops on alert. South Africa is teh key, but it has its own leadership problems with the ineffective Mbeki.