Zimbabwe's opposition resolute, but still looks for help

Since the election, thousands of MDC supporters have been singled out for retribution. More than 200 white commercial-farmers have been forced off their land, according to the Commercial Farmers' Union, crippling the commercial farming sector. Nongovernmental organizations estimate that some 20,000 rural folk have been displaced. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum says there have been 54 political murders since the election, a figure police spokesman Tarwireyi Tirivavi disputes.

"They are lying," he says. "They are including in that figure people killed in nonpolitical violence. The number of politically related deaths has gone down a lot since the elections." He declined to give figures.

Earlier this week, a report that the wife of an MDC activist was beheaded by Mugabe supporters was brought into question after police were unable to locate the woman's grave. Two local journalists, as well as an American journalist working for a British newspaper, were arrested after their papers published a story on the alleged murder. An act passed shortly after the March election put a tight rein on independent media working in Zimbabwe.

The MDC has also launched a legal challenge to have the election result declared illegitimate.

With no further talks between the two sides expected until mid-May, Mugabe's tactics appear to be to sit tight.

Observers here, however, say that other Zanu-PF heavyweights are jostling for position within the party, saying that its name is being dragged down under President Mugabe and that it must reform.

And last weekend, in an interview with New African Magazine, Mugabe even hinted that he might not serve out his full six-year term, though he said he has no immediate plans to resign.

Tsvangirai urges reformist elements within Zanu-PF to bring change at the top. "Mugabe is so isolated internally," he says. "They know the consequences of going against him, hence the reluctance of individuals. They speak out, but they never take a step.... It's no good just speaking about Mugabe having destroyed the country. Bold steps must be taken."

Certain elements within Zanu-PF, however, remain firmly by the president's side. They hail him as a hero who has stood firm against neo-colonialism, claiming that the MDC is sponsored by Britain, whose agenda is to restore the country to white rule 22 years after it won independence. The British government says such a claim is nonsense.

Professor Sithole forecasts that time is running short for the president as social, economic, and political factors come together to swell support for the opposition. "Change is coming," he predicts. "The country and the people cannot go on like this."

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