INDEPENDENT DAILY NEWS CRITICIZES DESPOTS

UNCLAS HARARE 001091 SIPDIS AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR DIPALMA, INT/R/MR, NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO ZI SUBJECT: INDEPENDENT DAILY NEWS CRITICIZES DESPOTS ¶1. Under headline "Rastiraka: Another old man resisting change" the independent daily "The Daily News" dedicated its May 2 editorial to criticizing despotic African leaders, especially Didier Rastiraka of Madagascar and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Excerpts: ¶2. "Didier Rastiraka if Madagascar is a typical caricature of an African leader: he refuses to accept change and seem to believe that without him at the helm Madagascar would sink without trace into the Indian Ocean. . . He and other leaders cling to the outrageous notion that African democracy is not necessarily compatible with the Western variety. They seem to suggest African democracy must include a strong dash of totalitarianism to function effectively. . . Africa is the poorest continent primarily because the freedom in which spectacular economic development and unfettered political activity can thrive does not exist in many African countries. The rulers, most of them old men of the ilk of Madagascar's Didier Rastiraka and our own Mugabe, believe their destiny is to rule their countries until they drop dead." SULLIVAN