MDC MPs unite to denounce 2006 budget proposals

By Tichaona Sibanda
01 December 2005

On Thursday the deeply divided legislators from the opposition MDC briefly put aside their differences to roundly condemn next year’s national budget proposals unveiled by finance minister Herbert Murerwa.

During Murerwa’s budget presentation the MDC MPs in Parliament sat together opposite their Zanu (PF) counterparts for the first time in more than a month, following a break to concentrate on the senate elections.

It was the first time that the MPs, now belonging to two separate factions headed by party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and secretary-general Welshman Ncube respectively, had set eyes on each other since the ‘infamous’ national council meeting on the 12th of October.

When Murerwa disclosed that the country’s economy is set to grow next year for the first time since 1999 on the back of an expected turnaround in the country’s troubled agricultural sector, the MDC MPs did what they have failed to do in more than a month - unite to condemn Zanu (PF).

In unison, there were shouts of derision from the opposition legislators when Murerwa said the country’s economic growth will be driven mainly by agriculture, manufacturing, mining and tourism.

Financial writer Shakeman Mugari said it’s impossible to have a turnaround in the agricultural sector when the forecast on the ground spells doom for the forthcoming season.

‘Plainly speaking, the 2005/2006 season is being described by experts as the worst in terms of preparations, so for the minister to suggest otherwise is a bit too much’, said Mugari.

According to Murerwa the gross domestic product (GDP) growth is being forecast at between 2 and 3.5 percent in 2006, against a 3.5 percent contraction this year.

The country, once the bread basket of Southern Africa, is reeling from its worst economic crisis since independence. Robert Mugabe’s regime has contributed hugely to this man made disaster with his policy of seizing white-owned farms. It has led to the collapse of the agricultural sector, formerly the mainstay of the economy.