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We are about to pay again for MDC’s wrong priorities
The relationship between Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement For Democratic Change continues to hurtle into the lowest of depths.
They called their bastard of a government the ‘Government of National Unity’ then immediately set out to show the nation the very opposite.
From the very first day of their existence as a government, they failed to give the nation an example of unity.
There was nothing between them that resembled unity. Their behaviour since then obviously influenced the citizens to stand divided and to violently remain polarized along political lines.
The nation was dangerously encouraged to put political parties before the nation.
Their lack of respect for each other, their animosity towards each other and their relentless jostling for power roped in our citizens and persuaded them to take sides, denying ourselves any possibility of unity of purpose.
The MDC, having no option but to show patience, discovered that their partner in government was not sincere, However, instead of articulating their position and pulling out to show displeasure, they remained in the government, but always playing second fiddle instead of being in charge.
They signed the agreement and they and the nation continue to pay heavily for that.
The MDC’s behavior was erratic, indicating that they had no plan on how to handle ZANU-PF but made out policy as they went along.
They issued threats which they later withdrew.
They made statements which they later retracted.
And they announced positions which they immediately changed, popularising the word ‘flip-flop’.
For the entire year, the MDC, which is the ruling party, was made to behave as if they are the opposition. And, in effect, the MDC is still the opposition in every sense of the word because it is ZANU-PF that has always called the shots, leaving the MDC to complain and only to react to what ZANU-PF does.
None of the MDC’s policies and agenda for the nation made it into law or got implemented but they voted to pass several bills sponsored by ZANU-PF.
The so-called Global Political Agreement (GPA), itself a useless document burped by Thabo Mbeki, was never implemented in the form in which it was signed.
ZANU-PF simply paid no attention to the agreement but used the GPA to control and to remind Tsvangirai that he is not in control of anything in that “unity government”. ZANU-PF simply did not feel bound by it while the MDC people were euphoric that they were in government; they too loved those foreign trips!
Mugabe always went ahead and implemented laws, issued directives, and ruled by decree without bothering to consult or to inform Tsvangirai. So many times Mugabe did this, forcing the MDC to only verbally react.
ZANU-PF and the MDC were never united in handling governmental responsibilities.
They battled each other in both parliament and cabinet everyday and it is from these battles, most of which the MDC lost, that I stand amazed at what the MDC is really trying to do now.
A few months ago, Tsvangirai chastised South Africa President Jacob Zuma for suggesting early elections in Zimbabwe as a means of solving the quagmire. Tsvangirai jumped up and used not very diplomatic language, reprimanding Zuma for calling for elections so soon.
Mugabe too then chimed in and said they were not going to be bulldozed into early elections before they were good and ready.
But this week, it was a different story.
Last Thursday, Mugabe said that he would stand for re-election if his party decides to nominate him. He also conveniently added that fresh elections to replace the troubled inclusive government will be held next year ‘with or without a new constitution.’
Mugabe told reporters that the Global Political Agreement has a two year lifespan which, he said, means that “if the constitution-making process succeeds, there will be an election and if it fails that too would lead to an election”.
The MDC is being baited from all directions and they are walking right into the trap with their eyelids peeled back as far as their foreheads.
“I am ready to stand for elections but we want a peacekeeping force to protect people during the election period,” Tsvangirai said but amid reports of fresh violence against MDC activists allegedly by ZANU PF supporters.
The tremors of violence have been slowly rattling Zimbabwe for the last several months and now politically motivated violence is picking up momentum.
In the last several weeks, Tsvangirai and his MDC party have been calling for fresh elections as early as next year. The MDC wants a new constitution to be enacted by the end of this year, followed by fresh elections six months later.
But the path towards the writing of that constitution is already mired in ZANU-PF sponsored violence, with its outcome seriously compromised and with no guarantee that it will be a people’s constitution.
But the MDC is powerless to do anything about it except to ferry their activists to hospital after being manhandled by ZANU-PF supporters.
Yet even in this political haze, they are talking elections.
For us citizens, it is time to dig more graves because Mugabe was humiliated once and he will never allow it to happen again.
Mugabe will not heed the call for peacekeepers. The AU and SADC, with their trademark bias in farvour of Mugabe, have neither the capacity nor the moral authority to deploy such a mission.
They will, of course, send observers and monitors. These are junkets reserved for presidential friends and relatives, along with ruling party faithfuls. After all, who really cares what the election observers and monitors say? Who has ever listened to election observers?
I almost wanted to suspect that both Mugabe and Tsvangirai are secretly conniving, synchronising and planning these unbelievable outbursts together.
Both have nothing to lose if they stay together like this, a point Mugabe lightly alluded to when, last Thursday, he told reporters that the period of the inclusive government could be extended “if the party principals sat down and decided on the matter, as long as it was constitutional”.
But as they talked elections, Mugabe pounced and slapped Tsvangirai by removing important chunks of responsibility in several ministries run by Tsvangirai’s MDC and putting them under ministries controlled by ZANU-PF cabinet ministers.
The government gazette last week announced the reallocation of responsibilities and portfolios for ministries controlled by the MDC to ministries in the hands of Mr. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF.
Affected ministries include Information Technology, Labour, Science and Technology, Parastatals and State Enterprises, Parliamentary Affairs and Regional Integration and International Cooperation.
In this mini reshuffle, Mugabe also curiously allocated his office communications interception and national emergency powers, and authority to administer the National Security Council Act.
Mugabe has, of course, legal authority to do this and the MDC knew it from the start but they are now hollering as if they did not sign the agreement.
The only thing Mugabe should be accused of in this act is insincerity and acting in bad faith. And Mugabe’s bad faith is one thing the MDC knew about well before they agreed to jump into bed with him.
The MDC is the best thing that has ever happened to Robert Mugabe in a long time.
The heart of the matter is that elections cannot be held under the current constitution, unless if we are trying to recreate the disaster we experienced in 2008.
The MDC should have made the drafting and adoption of a new constitution their priority, instead of wasting time chasing the Tomana/Gono issue.
They chased useless issues at the expense of important national issues. Now they are out of time and Mugabe wants an election with the same old constitution and our hell is re-ignited once again.
The MDC must, by now have come out to show the nation its political philosophy and what drives it. The MDC should, by now have adopted priorities to focus on and tackle as a matter of urgency.
Now they don’t have time to do anything but to scream to Zuma, the AU and SADC.
God have mercy!
What do you think?
Send me your comments on tano@swradioafrica.com
In spite of it all, I would really like to know what the MDC’s priorities are.
The lack of foresight on the part of the MDC is going to cost the nation more blood of its citizens.
They should set their priorities and stick to them.I accuse the MDC of negligence.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Thursday, March 11, 2010.
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