Zimbabwean Opposition Optimistic?

CNN reports that Robert Mugabe is pulling out of a meeting with regional leaders scheduled for this weekend in neighboring Zambia. Mugabe's spokes-flack said that there was essentially no reason for him to attend the meeting.

That pretty much sums things up, doesn't it. Mugabe has run Zimbabwe into the ground - it suffers from hyperinflation above 150,000%, 80-90% unemployment rates, and starvation and misery abound. He's taken to rigging elections and/or intimidating opposition groups and those responsible for counting the ballots to stay in power.

This intervention by Zimbabwe's neighbors is to let Mugabe off the hook gently - to let him get out of town gracefully and with his very life. The same likely can't be said if he continues to stay in power. The tipping point may be close at hand.

Despite this, according to the Times Online, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been flying around Africa shoring up support against the thuggish Robert Mugabe, appears to be cautiously optimistic about the outcome of a meeting he had with South African President Mbeki. Still, there are tremendous hurdles to be overcome, including the fact that the Zimbabwean military still supports Mugabe:

An MDC spokesman said today that the meeting with Mr Mbeki had “gone well” and that they were “cautiously optimistic” about the outcome. Mr Tsvangirai would be a full participant in tomorrow's summit, he added, reiterating that the opposition leader’s election win made him a “head of state”.

In Harare, the High Court is due to rule today on whether the election results must be made public.

According to his spokesman, Mr Mugabe “was eagerly waiting for the [election commission] to complete its ballot votes verification freely without any interference and without pressure not to release the results.”

“It is not true that the president nor Government is holding the Zimbabwe election results,” he said.

Bright Matonga, the deputy information commissioner for Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party, told CNN that he believed opposition politicians would be “cowards; if they did not contest a runoff”.

Unwilling to allow Mr Mugabe to slope off into retirement, those supporting him – including the military – have taken the reigns, unleashing an orchestrated campaign of terror against opposition activists, election observes an ordinary voters in an attempt to secure Mr Mugabe victory in a second-round poll.

White-owned farms were the first targets of the violence that insiders say is being co-ordinated by 200 handpicked military and intelligence officers loyal to the President.

Police have also arrested Mr Tsvangirai’s lawyer. Innocent Chagonda, who successfully defended Mr Tsvangirai from treason charges in 2004, was seized on charges related to a helicopter hired for the MDC.

He had apparently demanded that police release the aircraft, which had been confiscated, when he was arrested for “interfering with police work”, the opposition said.

The MDC said the arrest yesterday was part of a wider campaign to clamp down on the Opposition in the wake of the elections. “As a party we feel this is a sustained effort on the part of the authorities against people who assist the MDC,” it said.

UPDATE:
This Is Zimbabwe has more, including a spot-on cartoon of Mugabe furiously scribbling away at ballots.

UPDATE:
Now, there are reports that Mugabe's police force is banning all political rallies from taking place.

Zimbabwean police announced Friday that all political rallies were canceled, according to state radio. No explanation for the ban was given. The opposition has accused security forces and ruling party militants of engaging in a wave of violence against perceived opponents since the vote and of clamping down on the opposition.