State of emergency fears

The Zimbabwean government is allegedly considering declaring a state of emergency if a threat by the international community to impose sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and senior government officials goes ahead, the ‘Financial Gazette’ said on Thursday.

The newspaper reported that the approval last week by the US Senate of the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill had re-ignited a debate within the cabinet as to whether or not a state of emergency should be declared. The Zimbabwe Democracy Bill has yet to be endorsed by the US Congress and President George W Bush. The bill specifically targets Mugabe and senior government officials for their alleged role in the promotion of violence and lawlessness.

Political commentators in Harare were quoted as saying that the passage of the Bill by the US legislature was a strong signal from the Bush administration to the rest of the international community, angered by Mugabe’s refusal to end lawlessness which has killed nearly 40 people since last year, to impose sanctions on the Zimbabwean leader. Last month the EU said that it was giving Harare two months to end political violence and uphold the rule of law.

Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo told the newspaper that the government had ruled out a state of emergency and if Zimbabwe came under “siege” it would have to “devise strategies to survive”. “We hope the situation won’t reach the sanctions level, but if we are under siege, we have to employ strategies to survive. We cannot lie down and mourn,” he said. “As for declaring a state of emergency, I cannot say anything at the moment. We will cross that bridge when we reach it.”