FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
This is News and Notes, I'm Farai Chideya. Now we turn to southern Africa and the latest on the crisis in Zimbabwe. On Monday opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the country's upcoming presidential runoff election. Tsvangirai's decision comes after weeks of intimidation and violence directed at him and his supporters. He blamed President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF Party. Zimbabwean election officials say the second round of voting will still go ahead on Friday as planned. On the phone from Harare is Clever Bere. He is the president of Zimbabwe's National Student Union. Clever, how are you?
Mr. CLEVER BERE (President, Zimbabwe's National Student Union): OK, how are you? Thank you very much.
CHIDEYA: Clever, does your organization support Morgan Tsvangirai and the Movement for Democratic Change's decision to drop out of the run-off election?
Mr. BERE: The Zimbabwe National Student union's position is that the position that has been taken by Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC to pull out of the much of the June 27 runoff is the only logical decision they could make to them to give their conscious's (unintelligible). So the position of the student movement is that what Mr. Tsvangaria and MDC did is actually correct.
CHIDEYA: But don't you think that essentially this decision means that President Mugabe will be in power indefinitely?
Mr. BERE: Well, the challenge that Mugabe will have is that the little legitimacy that he had is being eroded. And he is going to be difficult for him to prove, especially with African leaders now coming up, and strongly against what he has been doing. But I think the most important to the people of Zimbabwe and those of the MDC and Mr. Tsvangirai is what measures which plan we have in place to make sure that eventually the people of Zimbabwe will achieve what they have been fighting for, that is democrat and a better life. And one of the things that was proposed in the student movement is probably to take a process of a transition of authority. That will facilitate a fresh election in the shortest possible time.
CHIDEYA: Tell me about your student union. What kind of an organization is it?
Mr. BERE: Well, the organization of Student's Union is a union representing just over 300,000 students from tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe. And the number of tertiary institutions that are affiliated with the NASU is 44, meaning that the 44 institutions that is their president. It's in the general charter of the NASU which meets after every two months. And there is also the National (unintelligible) Council that is elected at Congress which sits biannually.
CHIDEYA: What is it like right now in Harare? You know, I've been there many times, and last time I was there was 15 months ago and actually a little bit more, more like 18 months ago. And Harare was already experiencing so much in terms of shortages of food, cooking oil, you know, any kind of supplies. What's going on on the day to day in terms of how people are living?
Mr. BERE: I think the major difference from the time you were here is that then we were experiencing shortages, but as we speak right now, there is nothing on the shops here. People also surviving on imports, that is the food that people are surviving on is direct imports by the citizens themselves from South Africa from Botswana. And most of the families that are also surviving from their kid's work - seeking economic refugee in those countries and give them to (unintelligible) of Africa. Pay taxes affected the livelihoods of the people involved. As we speak especially with the finding of food distribution by NGOs, we will Zimbabwe is heading towards Somalia. People starve of hunger. There's no food for people to buy even in the stores, that means that people don't have money, but if they had money there is nothing to buy.
CHIDEYA: Do you plan to vote even though the MDC has dropped out on Friday?
Mr. BERE: Well, voting on Friday means I'll be legitimizing an illegitimate process. I'll be saying what, even if I don't want from Mugabe, but the outcome of that election will be a reflection of the people in Zimbabwe.
CHIDEYA: Are you hopeful that someone, I mean the U.N. Security Council has heard arguments from the U.S. and Britain, different countries and coalitions of African leaders have tried to make statements, but statements have not so far changed things. What would help?
Mr. BERE: Hopeful or not, I think the obvious answer is yes, I am a student of Zimbabwe, I am still very hopeful. But we are calling on President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa always been mandated by SADC to meet it in the Zimbabwe crisis, to look seriously in (unintelligible) and move away from this quiet diplomats which is not producing the desired result, and probably as the AU summit sits on Saturday with eight African leaders to take a position on Zimbabwe. The deployment of a peacekeeping mission is now long overdue. The people of Zimbabwe have suffered enough.
CHIDEYA: Clever, I want to thank you so much for talking with us.
Mr. BERE: You are welcome. Thank you very much.
CHIDEYA: Clever Bere is president of Zimbabwe's National Student Union. He spoke with us from Harare, Zimbabwe.
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