You really doubt that ZANU PF is capable of assasination? I can understand frustrations but lest we forget the bigger picture we are dealing with real murderers that are capable of anything. While I personally also worry about the vacuum Tsvangirai’s extended absence can/has created I dont doubt that there is a real danger to his life. Give the man some credit.

I agree with Sally D (a good post incidently).

Morgan, I understand, would have been back if the very real assassination threat hadn’t materialized. There’s plenty of time for campaigning though, as the run-off is still five weeks away.

I appreciate your frustrations and I agree people need to be critical and raise issues with the MDC not follow blindly. I however feel that the MDC leadership also needs to take into account all the risks and takes these seriously. This in my opinion does not in an way deflect attention from the real issues and suffering that the ordinary Zimbabwean is going through. My greatest worry with the MDC as with most of us Zimbabweans has been our naivety as to the lengths ZANU PF will go to stay in power. This has led us to go into each election with little or no scenario planning leaving ZANU PF to continously call the shots and direct the political discourse in their favour. We need to learn from this last election. For example if ZANU PF refuse to abide by the run off results what then, or even what if they sufficiently rig what then? We can be as positive as we choose to be and assume the runoff will go the same way as March 29 but Mugabe is a proper come back kid and ZANU PF has already strategized.

It must be very hard for MDC in the country to lead the people, but there are so many passionate, creative, brilliant activists and experienced leaders, I am sure they will make a way wherever they can. All around the world people are willing to help, they are not alone. Meanwhile, Tsvangirai outside Zimbabwe is a total embarrassment to SADC and the one trump card the MDC has to put pressure on SA or SADC to stop the violence. Once in Mugabe’s Gulag, he disappears from view since there is no free press in Zimbabwe.

He is the Opposition candidate, no one else, on 27th of June we want to bury Mugabe, not Tsvangirai! On the other hand, the active involvement and higher profile of local MDC leaders during this time may help to prevent a later ZANU-fication of the MDC whereby Tsvangirai becomes the object of hero worship, gets too big for his boots, and ends up being little better than Mugabe. Tsvangirai’s history shows that he can be egocentric and divisive, and if right now he can’t afford that attitude, so much the better. Zimbabwe may become the first country in Africa fully to experience “grassroots” democracy (we certainly do not have that here in SA).