Fascism on our doorstep

The recent banishment of Irish Father Gabriel Maguire from Zimbabwe may or may not have been linked to the priest’s objections to the Mugabe government.

The priest denies that he was expelled for political reasons. Yet, this motivation would be entirely consistent with the policies of a regime determined to hang on to power by tooth and claw, or indeed, crook and stick.

Recent actions by Mugabe’s Zanu-PF suggest that party and president do not anticipate winning next year’s presidential elections by fair means. By banning independent election monitors, Zanu-PF itself has virtually declared the election corrupt months before the fact. Assuming that it will take place at all, electoral fraud and intimidation seem inevitable.

Ironically, a defeat for Mr Mugabe in a free and fair presidential election would by no means be a foregone conclusion. Observers anticipate a close-run race. Yet, should Mr Mugabe win the election, his victory will be seen as fraudulent if the poll fails to be free and fair. Consequently, his prolongued presidency will be seen as illegitimate the world over.

Of course, Mr Mugabe cares little about international or domestic opinion. Foreign censure is met with arrogance and puerile taunts. Soft diplomacy, South Africa’s favoured policy, is seen as a sign of weakness. Opposition at home, meanwhile, is dealt with ruthlessly.

In Zimbabwe today, independent journalists are arrested and their offices are bombed, judges are assaulted, farmers are mugged off their property, the democratic processes are subverted. And all the while Zanu-PF’s stormtroopers feel at liberty to intimidate and assault (some allege even murder) political opponents.

Fascism, it is fair to say, is brewing right on our doorstep.

This newspaper has previously called for international sanctions targeted specifically at the opportunists among Zanu-PF’s political leadership, aimed at compromising their material self-interest. Such sanctions might include refusal of travel visas, and the freezing of international assets held by functionaries.

The Church has a role to play, too. Mr Mugabe’s calamitous regime must be unequivocally condemned by the world Church, including Southern Africa’s–and even the pope, whom Mr Mugabe cannot implicate in ulterior motives.

For this to happen, however, protocol dictates that the bishops of Zimbabwe give the rest of the Church the go-ahead to comment on the political realities under Mr Mugabe’s rule.

What are they waiting for?