TSVANGIRAI LEADS MARCH ON PARLIAMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001067 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR S.HILL SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2015 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PHUM PREL ZI SUBJECT: TSVANGIRAI LEADS MARCH ON PARLIAMENT Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell for reasons 1.5 b/d ¶1. (U) Anti-Senate MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai led a demonstration of between 500 and 1,000 supporters from the party's downtown Harare headquarters to Parliament in the afternoon of September 1. Marchers, many of whom joined the demonstration in progress, carried placards calling for Mugabe to step down, and demanding free education and a new constitution. At the end of the march, Tsvangirai, accompanied by more than 50 members of the party's national executive council, delivered a petition and the party's roadmap for democratic change to Speaker of Parliament and ZANU-PF chairman John Nkomo. ¶2. (SBU) According to press reports, the police appeared to have been caught off guards by the march and failed to respond quickly to what was the first MDC march since the opposition's fracture last October. Anti-Senate MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa on September 5 told us that details of the march were known only to Tsvangirai and a handful of organizers and that the national executive council learned about the march only that morning. ¶3. (SBU) Chamisa said the demonstration,s success would likely lead to further peaceful acts of resistance. The march had moreover shown opposition supporters that the party's leadership was firmly behind peaceful resistance. Other MDC activists tell us the demonstration was only the most visible of other "water testing" measures. For instance, in rural Mashonaland West parents were being encouraged to send their children to school ) which starts today - even if they cannot pay the new, higher fees. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) After a round of well-attended rallies across the country, Tsvangirai has finally put words into action and conducted a successful, albeit minor, demonstration. It is significant on several counts: it is the first march since the opposition party's fracture last October; it is the first major action since Tsvagirai promised a &winter of discontent8 at the MDC Congress in March; and, unlike MDC demonstrations before the fracture, Tsvagirai personally led it. Moreover, the lack of police reaction may boost the MDC,s confidence and set the stage for future events. DELL