IT seems like a regime a day, tumbling in deference to the demands of democratic demonstrators.
At first there was Tunisia, arguably one of the most prosperous of the North African Arab states with its thriving tourism sector whose rulers flaunted their immense wealth, even plundering the central bank before departing and then suffering the humiliation of being rejected by France which inspired the national elite to live the sweet life.
After President Ben Ali and his kleptocratic family had settled in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the most powerful and influential of the Maghreb states, faced the demands of over a million demonstrators. Its octogenarian ruler, Hosni Mubarak, at the helm for over 30 years, tried to hang on by promising the multitudes a new start. But the overwhelmingly young insurrectionists, equipped with Twitter and Facebook, weren’t buying it. They had a tryst with destiny that they were not about to betray.
When Mubarak finally gave way, retreating to his estate at Sharm el-Sheik, it was only a matter of time before the foundations of another desert fiefdom began to tremble.
It wasn’t Algeria where the army has a firm hand; nor Jordan or Morocco where monarchs enjoy a measure of popularity and could, as in Bahrain, buy time with strategic concessions. It was the most unlikely candidate of all — Libya where the one-man rule of Col Muammar Gadaffi ensured no departure from the totalitarian script.
His discomfort was first advertised by an address in support of Ben Ali warning Tunisians not to push him out.
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The heat was turned up by Mubarak’s departure which showed the much smaller Libyan population that anything was possible.
Gadaffi has since then conducted a vicious counter-revolutionary policy that has involved attacks on demonstrators from the air. In so doing he has attracted the wrath of the Arab League and the UN. Two airforce pilots fled to Malta with their jets rather than kill their countrymen. Then Gadaffi and his son gave demented TV speeches to the nation which convinced many observers that the wheels were coming off. Indeed Libya’s ambassadors to several far eastern countries resigned their posts after listening to the harangues.
Zimbabwe is a close ally of the Libyan autocrat. They work closely together in the UN and AU. So long as Gadaffi survives Zimbabwe will stick by him. Sadly the MDC doesn’t seem to have a foreign policy. If it did it would be able to stand up for freedom and democracy in North Africa. Because what we are seeing now is a new form of protest; not the burning of US flags and fists waved at the West Iran-style, but genuine movements in favour of democracy.
For North Africa this is a monumental sea change. But there are comparisons with Zimbabwe. The repression that ignited the revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, and now Libya, has become a feature of Zimbabwean life. People have been arrested and detained for exercising their constitutional rights.
Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 colleagues have been arrested and incarcerated for watching videos of events in Egypt. Nyanga North MP Douglas Mwonzora and 24 MDC-T activists remain incarcerated on charges of political violence, vicitims of the iniquitous Section 121, designed to thwart court rulings on bail. No Zanu PF activists have been arrested despite their cited role in violence.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has said it is worried by the seemingly partial behaviour of the police in handling cases of political violence. Executive director Irene Petras said the partisan behaviour was a trend observed over the years in which supporters of one political party and human rights defenders were being prosecuted and charged but the prosecution never succeeded.
Zimbabweans are witnessing almost daily cases in which rights are trampled on and law-enforcement is arbitrary, partisan and unprofessional. That is the terrain for profound public dissatisfaction. And for those elements of the state that believe they have successfully coerced the country into obedience, we have one word: Libya.
