The Mugabe government reaches a new low, again.

Mario Canseco - The devastating attack on Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has focused the attention of the world on the seemingly impossible task of opposing Zimbabwe's dictatorial regime. Tsvangirai suffered a cracked skull when he was beaten by police as he tried to attend a prayer vigil in Harare. The image of Tsvangirai, barely able to open his eyes after what was described by his close supporters as "torture", has led to widespread condemnation.

Yesterday, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe—celebrating his 27th year as the de-facto ruler of one of the most impoverished countries in Africa—dismissed the chorus of dismay. "It's the West as usual," Mugabe declared. "When they criticize the government trying to prevent violence and punish the perpetrators of that violence, we take the position that they can go hang."

Mugabe is supposed to step down next year, but after years of mixed messages, it seems unlikely that he will choose a successor. The president claims that the authorities responded quickly to stop a major problem, and said the MDC is looking to bring him down by any means. He even described the opposition's actions as an "orgy of violence" that was spreading in the country.

The most recent incident exemplifies a type of governance that should have been eradicated from the planet a long time ago. Mugabe has effectively stymied the action of the legislature and established tough guidelines for his political rivals. In 2005, the government generated a Senate out of thin air, and provoked a rift among opposition supporters, who pondered the best strategy to counter yet another setback in their struggle against Mugabe.

The key piece of Mugabe's puzzle of repression is the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), which allows law enforcement officers to circumvent, cancel and postpone political rallies in a manner that would be unjustifiable in almost every other nation.

POSA mandates all parties to notify police in advance of public meetings. As if the rules were not harsh enough, police officers actually invoked the provision to stop the door-to-door activities of opposition politicians during the last House of Assembly electoral campaign. Sympathizers and candidates of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) were conspicuously spared.

In addition, the 2005 process was affected by one of the lowest forms of political campaigning. The government, at a time when most of the country awaited the start of the harvest season, used food disbursements as an electoral tool. This is the way Mugabe sought to earn the support of his countrymen, some of which had already faced the devastating effect of Operation Restore Order—a government-sponsored urban clearance campaign of housing evictions and demolitions—and a collapsed economy.

Corruption has also been a problem, and residents have been quick to express they feel powerless. Last year, almost three-quarters of Zimbabweans expressed little faith in the police's capabilities to enforce the law against government officials—the lowest ranking in the 18 African countries included in the Afrobarometer.

Mugabe's policies are responsible for the largest non-conflict related exile currently taking place in the world. Human rights organizations estimate that 4 million people have left Zimbabwe, to settle in South Africa and other neighbouring nations. Zimbabwe's inflation rate is expected to hit 4,000 per cent before the end of the year, and the average life expectancy has plummeted from 62 years in 1990—when Zimbabwe was still regarded as the "breadbasket of Africa"—to a paltry 34 years for women, and 37 years for men.

So far, the Commonwealth's suspension of Zimbabwe has been ineffectual, and the decision of the United Nations (UN) to condemn Operation Restore Order was merely ornamental. In a month when South Africa assumes the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, the attack on Tsvangirai is a perfect opportunity to test the will of the continent's perceived leader, and a chance for the global organization to show poise when dealing with a despot that does not possess nuclear weapons.

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