Zimbabwe is witnessing yet another controversy in its very difficult political climate after the recent arrest of Roy Bennett, the Movement For Democratic Change treasurer and deputy agriculture minister-designate who stands trial for three-year-old terrorism charges.

“They just assume the protagonists can manage on their own. But this has been a long and bloody struggle. It’s simply unreasonable to think we can muddle through,” said Education minister and MDC member David Coltart about why the Southern African Development Community should intervene in Zimbabwe.

To note that Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is disillusioned with how his MDC party is being treated is to say the least. As reaction to unjust political pressure and strong-arm tactics of the dictatorial political party, Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, with whom Tsvangirai’s MDC party entered into a coalition government, the Prime Minister has announced that he and his party will ‘boycott Cabinet meetings and cut off communication with president Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF.’ He adds, though, that he is not pulling out of the coalition just yet.

“It is our right to disengage from a dishonest and unreliable partner,” says Tsvangirai who threatened to call for new elections if he does not see meaningful reform.

Zimbabwe’s coalition government dubbed as unity government, a power-sharing deal between Mugabe who rigged the results of the elections and Tsvangirai who actually garnered more votes than the dictator, is now eight months old. Senior political leaders in the African Union and the Southern African Development Union, guarantors of the power-sharing deal, ‘have effectively ignored Mr. Tsvangirai’s pleas to pressure Mr. Mugabe to act in a more conciliatory manner.’

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Via The New York Times