ZIMBABWE'S MAIN opposition party called for a general strike next Tuesday following president Robert Mugabe's decision to boycott today's emergency regional meeting in Lusaka on the country's electoral crisis.
The call for a nationwide strike has further increased tensions among the country's population and prompted Zimbabwean authorities to ban all political rallies in Harare.
"It's true that we have banned political rallies," police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said. "We see no reason for rallies since we have had elections."
Following the decision by Mr Mugabe to send three government ministers to attend the meeting in Lusaka in his place, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) issued pamphlets calling for a general strike to be launched next week.
"From Tuesday, let us all stay at home until the presidential result has been announced," stated the pamphlets. "We call upon transporters, workers, vendors and everyone to stay at home. The power is in our hands. Zimbabweans have been taken for granted for too long. We demand that the presidential election results be announced now."
A group of 300 civic organisations in Zimbabwe have warned of the growing threat of mass atrocities if African leaders fail to act. Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition spokesman Arnold Tsunga said: "This summit must be used to tackle the crisis in Zimbabwe head-on. Our leaders are failing Africa by keeping silent. It is time for SADC [Southern African Development Community] to show political courage and conviction."
However, according to Chris Maroleng, a regional political analyst with South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, Mr Mugabe's decision to withdraw has reduced the chances of a breakthrough.
"It was significant some African leaders spoke out about the need for Zimbabwe's election result to be released before the summit, and I think Mugabe's withdrawal indicates he is not keen to hear what his counterparts have to say.
"I think behind closed doors they would have read him the riot act, and pushed strongly for the election results to be released without further delay," he told The Irish Times.
"Unfortunately, if he won't engage with the MDC or regional leaders, it undermines the process significantly."
The summit of SADC members was called by Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa on Wednesday amid rising tensions in Zimbabwe over the failure of the country's electoral commission to release the presidential result.
The MDC maintains it has won the presidential contest outright, with tallies outside polling stations showing Morgan Tsvangirai secured 50.3 per cent of the vote. The party has vowed not to contest a second-round run-off for the presidency.
Mr Mugabe and his regime stand accused of delaying the results so he can orchestrate a run-off and give militants time to intimidate voters and ensure he wins a second-round election.
"The president won this election by 50.3 per cent. The MDC does not accept a run-off. Mugabe's term expired on March 29th, 2008," the pamphlets stated.
Over the past week, the situation has turned increasingly violent, with reports of state-sponsored evictions of white farmers and attacks against opposition supporters by ruling regime loyalists occurring daily.
However, prior to Mr Mugabe's withdrawal from the regional summit, MDC spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo said a another meeting between South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, and Mr Tsvangirai on Thursday had given them hope that regional leaders could help to bring the situation under control. "The meeting went well. The details of it are not at this stage for public consumption . . . We're cautiously optimistic about the outcome [ of the summit]," Mr Mlilo told reporters.
Mr Mugabe's decision not to attend the summit was a direct snub to Mr Mwanawasa, the SADC chairman, who last year described Zimbabwe as a "sinking Titanic".