Mugabe calls opponent a frog
Zimbabwean President turn dictator, Robert Mugabe, has compared his presidential rival to a frog. Apparently he meant this in a slanderous way rather than as an endorsement.
The frog-like Simba Makoni, who was the former finance minister from Mugabe’s own Zanu PF party, is seeking to contest the presidency with Mugabe. Mugabe will also face a challenge in next month’s election from longstanding democracy campaigner and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
While the political candidacy of frogs is certainly worthy of coverage, it is probably also worth noting Zimbabwe faces bigger issues at its election next month. Wikipedia notes:
According to human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch the government of Zimbabwe violates the rights to shelter, food, freedom of movement and residence, freedom of assembly and the protection of the law. There are assaults on the media, the political opposition, civil society activists, and human rights defenders.
Oh, and Zimbabwe is in financial ruin, with 100,000% inflation. But, as the Telegraph records:
Nonetheless Mr Mugabe, punching the air, predicted Zanu-PF would win the polls “resoundingly” and insisted he was not responsible for Zimbabwe’s woes.
All this suggests that Mugabe wouldn’t be winning a fair election by running on his record.
Photo credit: Hamed Saber on Flickr
February 29th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
The inevitable consequence of Maoist/socialist tyranny.
Land “reform”, eh…
February 29th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Although some like him. Doesn’t this rhetoric sound disturbingly close to home: “his uncompromising stand to politically and economically control every inch of his land of origin could be the blueprint for fighting against Neo-Colonialism, Neo Liberalism and Globalization on the African Continent in the 21st century”