*Zimbabweat it again!* *by Nqobizitha Mlilo (in Zimbabwe)* ** This week we could have looked at the post Polokwane ripples as they are drawing circles in the waters of President Zuma administration, particularly as they relate to the view of the left of the African National Congress (ANC) alliance on Minister Trevor Manuel. Before pen could come to paper, Zimbabwe was at it again!
Surely the issue of Minister Trevor Manuel and what informs the undercurrent on his perceived or real dominance will be with us for some time, and therefore we could unpack it later. For now Zimbabwe, well again! Prime Minister and President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) President, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai announced the MDC would “disengage from ZANU PF” labeling same an “unreliable partner.” As usual, the media went to town and described the impending situation in Zimbabwe in all other words, not least “a crisis!” But is it a crisis? Perhaps not! ; at least at this stage. The response of the MDC to ZANU PF’s reaction will indicate whether or not there will be a crisis. For now the cows have just left the kraal for the pasture with a drunkard. It has always been apparent that the Inclusive Government was an unsustainable arrangement. It is no wonder the situation is where it is now. The problem starts, or put differently, started with the conceptualization of the MDC-ZANU PF ‘government.’ It was a conceptual problem. What is the nature of the ‘government’? Is it a Government of National Unity or an Inclusive Government, or a Transitional Government, or a Transitional Authority, or for that matter an MDC-ZANU PF administration? These issues were never thrashed out with sufficient clarity and hence it is common cause that, while these terms do not necessarily mean the same thing, they have been interchanged. In the end they meant everything but nothing. So too the ‘government.’ Without theoretical clarity of the nature of government, the submission is that there will equally be political confusion. For our purposes, we will use Inclusive Government. Further, on the very day of the swearing-in of Ministers, it was clear that trouble was not coming, but had arrived. ZANU PF increased its number of Ministers. The political message that was reflecting was that the Inclusive Government could and will only ‘succeed’ or remain in place to the extent the MDC was and is willing to continue to give in to attempts by ZANU PF to unilaterally rewrite the Global Political Agreement. Put differently, the Inclusive Government can only remain as long as the MDC is willing to tolerate renegade behavior of ZANU PF in all its manifestations. It is inconceivable that ZANU PF will change and be put in a psyche of national building and development. This is precisely because ZANU PF long ceased to be a political party, but rather has become a machine of callous violence in a power retention agenda whose objective is using the state as a means of primitive accumulation of wealth. To expect ZANU PF to adhere to the Global Political Agreement is, to put it politely, naïve. The decision of the MDC to disengage from ZANU PF was therefore correct. There are some that have argued that there is no such thing as a partial withdrawal from the government. Well, there is! The MDC has partially withdrawn! Bismarck was correct that 'politics is the art of the possible'. What is possible is informed by the material prevalent political conditions. With the political situation in Zimbabwe, what the MDC did was to signal strongly that they were unhappy with the manner things were progressing. It was a signal that gave them space to rethink of other strategies, expose and see the response of ZANU PF and indeed see how far the regional body, Southern African Development Community, (SADC) and the continental body, African Union, (AU) was to react given that they are the guarantor of the Global Political Agreement. Within the party, the leadership of the MDC was able to respond to the growing irritation and impatience by the rank and file about the pretence, indeed informed by national interests, that things were working. What then is likely to happen? It is unlikely that ZANU PF will soften up. The stalemate will remain for at least the next three weeks. Deputations will be sent from either side reminiscent of the period of the Ministerial portfolio allocation. These deputations will not resolve the real issue that is at the heart of the problem. Any announcement that the issues have been resolved will inevitably mean that MDC has given in again and has accepted the rewriting of the Global Political Agreement. Within the framing of the issues as the MDC has done, the real chance for the MDC comes with the calling for free and fair elections run by SADC and the AU supervised by the UN. The involvement of SADC and AU is to ensure the transfer of power which has been a missing ingredient in the MDC ascension to state power. This of course will not be given in a silver platter, but would have to be a product, as with many things the MDC has achieved, of struggle. By looking at the content of the Kariba draft, and not politicking about the characters that negotiated it, since same was intended to be a transitional document leading to free and fair elections, the document has, sufficient provisions, at least from section 201 to 208, read with and changed as maybe necessary to accommodate SADC, AU and UN, which could be the electoral law. It has been said by some that there is no alternative to the Inclusive Government. This is simply a reflection of intellectual laziness, impotence and just refusing to think. No struggle for real emancipation of the masses of the people can be said to have no alternatives. Alternatives are there, the leadership of the people of Zimbabwe in genreal and MDC in particular knows, they should take them. In any event, as David Thomson, in his book *Europe Since Napoleon*, observed with reference to the French Revolution, all political decisions are, in essence, a step in the dark. That Zimbabwe continues to be on the radar for the wrong reasons must now end in real terms. A lasting solution rooted in the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe, rather than appeasement of a geriatric dictator, must be found. The people of Zimbabwe have endured psychological torture of political uncertainly for far too long. Notwithstanding the failures of the MDC in some respects, which is solely as a result of inexperience and immaturity, particularly its slowness to appreciate Afro-sensitive issues, African Institutions must accept that the MDC is the solution to Zimbabwe’s problems. Rather than punish, African Institutions must assist the MDC and help it grow. That the MDC has the interests of the people of Zimbabwe at heart can never be disputed. Equally, it is incumbent upon the MDC to engage in deliberate and serious African diplomatic work and relationship building. How much longer should the people of Zimbabwe wait? *This article was originally published on page 4 of the Northwest Post ** www.nwpost.co.za* <http://www.nwpost.co.za/> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
