MDC claims success over stay-away

The Zimbabwe government has condemned a stay-away protest called by the opposition on Tuesday. It said mass action undermined recent efforts to revive the economy. But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) argued that it was the government's own policies that were responsible for the parlous state of the Zimbabwean economy, and a two-day stay-away would not hamper recovery. On Tuesday the MDC said the first day of the stay-away action was "deeply encouraging". "The MDC is very proud and impressed by the bravery and resilience shown by hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans in the face of state oppression. Reports so far indicate that our call to workers not to go to work has resulted in an 80 percent shutdown of business across Zimbabwe," the MDC said in a statement. However, Steyn Berejena, a senior press secretary in the Department of Information told IRIN the strike was a flop. "People have reported to work, commuter operators are providing transport, shops are open. People are going about their normal activity," he said. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said the response to the stay-away call was demonstrative of the desire for change among Zimbabweans. "We hope that the positive response [on Tuesday] encourages other workers to pursue a similar course of action [on Wednesday]." Berejena conceded that "maybe the MDC and its supporters have stayed away from work" but insisted that the majority of Zimbabweans were at work, "right now, I'm at work", he pointed out. A Harare-based journalist told IRIN that while the stay-away action was not a flop, it was not a resounding success either. "In the morning transport was a problem as kombi's [mini-bus taxis], which are the main mode of transport, were few. It was not business as usual. Most of the people had to walk to their workplaces and some found that the factories and banks they worked at were closed. So they had to go back home," he said. "To a large extent, and from one point of view, the stay-away has succeeded largely because the workplaces were closed," the journalist added. There were also reports of protestors clashing with police in suburbs outside Harare. Berejena criticised the timing of the protest, saying Zimbabwe's failing economy did not need the added knock. "This year we had a very good start, the tripartite negotiating forum composed of labour, business and government, came up with a cocktail of measures to revive the economy. The call by the MDC to stay away from work is uncalled for. It shows that the MDC is not keeping abreast with developments, while serious stakeholders are saying lets move together to revive the economy, they have called this stay-away which is against the interests of Zimbabwe. The MDC would want to see a situation where there are [food and fuel] shortages prevailing," he said. Berejena added that "serious stakeholders in Zimbabwe" did not support the protest action. "Labour is supporting the economic [revival] measures, so we are surprised to see the MDC going in a different direction instead of working together with other people to revive the economy," he told IRIN. The MDC's Nyathi responded that "no amount of patchwork will revive the economy if you have a lawless society or environment, who is going to come in and invest in that environment?" he asked, in reference to the tripartite negotiating forum's National Economic Revival Programme. "It's our right as a people to take action if we feel aggrieved ... the economy will not be any worse off as a result of our [stay-away] action, the economy is hurting mostly from governments failure to discharge its own responsibility as a government. The responsibility for the state of the economy lies with government, not the opposition," he told IRIN. The MDC's ultimate aim was to use mass action to bring "so much pressure to bare until there's a realisation that this regime is not sustainable", he added. According to a statement by the International Monetary Fund this week, Zimbabwe's economy had experienced a progressive and sharp deterioration over the past four years. "Real GDP [gross domestic product] has declined by about 30 percent, and is still contracting. Inflation has doubled in each of the last two years to reach 200 percent at the end of 2002 and could well rise further. There are widespread shortages, poverty and unemployment have risen, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic is worsening," the IMF said.