Despite the growing domestic and international demand for democratic change in Zimbabwe, Xan Rice, The Times's correspondent in Harare, believes Robert Mugabe is in no mood to relinquish control and his people are not yet ready for revolution.

"Compared with previous election campaigns, the change in mood is unbelievable. The freedom to voice an opinion, to go to rallies, to openly support the opposition; many people haven't seen anything like this before.

"If you put on a MDC T-shirt five years ago you would get a beating. Now people are out wearing them out on the streets.

"There's definitely a spring atmosphere. It's obvious that the majority of people want change and the MDC is the face of that change. It's only two or three weeks since the militia was told to lay off the violence and in such a short time a huge amount of momentum has built up.

"I don't believe we are seeing a spontaneous People's Revolution along the lines of those in the Ukraine and Lebanon. That remains a pretty far-fetched idea. I don't get the feeling that we will see a mass popular uprising with people gathered out on the streets if they don't get their way.

"The major difference now is that the people have started to speak out. Just two weeks ago such comments were very difficult to voice.

"Zimbabweans in general are getting poorer by the day and there is a serious food shortage. Unemployment is 80 per cent and rising and the economy has shrunk by 40 per cent in five years.

"President Mugabe is still seen by many as a liberator from colonial rule. And there is no opposition leader with the charisma of a Mandela or Yushchenko for the masses to unite behind. Tsvangirai has had a hard time since he was defeated in the 2002 presidential election. Charges of treason against him were only dropped a few months ago. He's no revolutionary.

“Even Mugabe's most fierce critic, Pius Ncube, while being respected as a clergyman and supported by many for his outspoken opinions, has yet to galvanise people in action. What he is now saying about Mr Mugabe is much stronger than most, although people can certainly identify with the central message that it's time for him to go.

"The MDC has had a little coverage on the television but it is all skewed at least 80/20 in favour of the ruling party. The state-owned newspapers are little more than a joke, every single political story is pro-government. They have been forced to give the MDC some coverage, but it's usually negative and anyway it's a drop in the ocean.

"Even so, it's going to look very suspicious if Mr Mugabe claims to have won the two-thirds of the vote he needs to change the constitution. Support for the MDC, while unlikely to be strong enough to win the 76 seats it needs for an outright majority even if the election is run fairly, is strong.

"Now Mr Mugabe has loosened the shackles on his people he has started a process which may be the start of a far-reaching change."

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