Mugabe, Ncube and Tsvangirai to hold joint rallies

LEADERS of the three political parties in the inclusive Government will next month hold joint rallies to urge their supporters to refrain from politically-motivated violence, the Chronicle reported.

They will use the rallies to be held in all the country's provinces to urge co-existence and tolerance.

This will be part of the programme for general elections expected anytime this year.

The decision is a follow-up to a meeting held in Harare in November last year where President Mugabe (Zanu-PF), Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and Professor Welshman Ncube (MDC) jointly addressed senior officials from their parties.

Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa and MDC secretary-general Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said the objective of the rallies was to cascade the message of co-existence and tolerance to the grassroots.
They said they were now waiting for the principals to confirm the dates.

"The dates haven't been given to us.

"The purpose of the meetings will be the same as the one we had at the Harare International Conference Centre to inform the greater public on the need to tolerate each other.

"This is an idea of all the parties in the inclusive Government, so we will go to all the provinces with the same message of tolerance and co-existence," said Mutasa."

Mrs Misihairabwi Mushonga added: "We are waiting for the principals to give us the dates and as you may be aware the President is on leave so maybe the meetings will be held in February.

"It was the principals who requested that they wanted to go to all the provinces with the same intention of urging  people to refrain from violence," she said.

MDC-T secretary-general Mr Tendai Biti could not be reached for comment.

MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora said Mr Biti had not found time to brief them on the intended meetings.

He said they will make a decision on participation once a number of areas are clarified.

"It should be made clear in what capacity the principals will be addressing the people if they are to address together. i.e. are they addressing as presidents of parties or in their government roles," said Mr Mwonzora.

"We also want to know in what order they will speak i.e. are they going to speak in alphabetical order, are they going to use their ages or their government positions in taking turns to speak?

"We also want to know the message and how it is going to be communicated. If there are agreements on these issues then I don't see serious objections to this initiative," he said.

Mr Mwonzora said they welcome any initiative that brings peace to Zimbabwe or is calculated to end violence.

"However, the substance of the principals' proposed campaign must address the question of selective application of the law by law enforcement agents.

"They must clearly indicate that there will not be any sacred cows when it comes to dealing with perpetrators of violence.

"We, therefore, expect the principals to give orders unequivocally to law enforcement agents especially the police to stop acting in a partisan manner," he said.

At the meeting with party officials in November, President Mugabe, PM Tsvangirai and Prof Ncube urged the police to decisively deal with perpetrators of political violence.

The meeting sought to address inter-party tensions rocking some parts of the country. The leaders called for the establishment of inter-party committees in lower structures to stem political violence.

President Mugabe told the officials that they would always keep an eye on the lower structures to make sure they did not instigate violence.

He has always urged people to live peacefully and not engage in activities that harm each other like political violence.

The President is on record saying violence should only be used when defending the country from foreign enemies bent on recolonisation.

There were violent clashes between Zanu-PF and MDC-T youths across the country before the indaba, but the clashes subsided after the meeting