Maravi

The failure by Zimbabwe’s political parties to reach consensus

The failure by Zimbabwe’s political parties to reach consensus over the sharing
Written by Editor

The failure by Zimbabwe’s political parties to reach consensus over the sharing of ministries following the unity agreement of September 15, 2008 is worrying.

The ZANU-PF under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the other MDC formation led by Professor Arthur Mutambara signed an agreement to form a government of national unity after protracted talks mediated by former South African president Thabo Mbeki under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

These talks came in the wake of the disputed presidential election run-off on June 27, which saw President Mugabe retain the presidency.

Earlier, on March 29, ZANU-PF and MDC failed to garner 50 per cent plus one votes required for one to be elected president in the first round of elections.

Tsvangirai then withdrew from the election run-off on grounds that he was the winner of the first election that was conducted on March 29.

The unity government was then proposed by the African Union (AU) and SADC as a compromise for the disputed election run-off, which left over 100 people dead and more than 30,000 displaced in election violence.

What followed was a marathon of talks in Pretoria, South Africa and later Harare, Zimbabwe and deadlocks on what they called sticky issues until the two parties finally agreed to sign the document on September 15. The occasion to sign the unity agreement itself was significant because both Tsvangirai and President Mugabe were meeting for the first time, face to face, in ten years.

There was a sigh of relief after that deal was reached that at least Zimbabwe would move forward to ensure that the economic and political crises in that country was addressed.

Heads of states and governments in Africa and beyond, the clergy, ordinary Zimbabweans, and leaders of international financial institutions expressed hope that Zimbabwe would at last chart a new course.

However, it has now taken 53 days - over one month and three weeks - and the political parties in that country still do not have a Cabinet in place. The lack of a Cabinet has also led to the adjournment of Parliament in that country until further notice. This is really difficult to fathom.

According to their agreement, of the 31-member Cabinet, ZANU-PF is supposed to get 15 ministries, MDC-Tsvangirai will get 13 while the MDC-Prof Mutambara will get three. Although progress has been made on certain ministries, the two parties are yet to agree on ministries like home affairs and finance.

They are also yet to agree on the appointment of the 10 provincial governors. They are yet to agree on the composition, functions and constitution of the National Security Council, the appointment of ambassadors, permanent secretaries as well as the question of the Constitution Amendment No. 19 which would be the legal document necessary and conditional in bringing the inclusive government into life.

The matter has now been referred to SADC and an extraordinary summit has been convened this Sunday in Johannesburg in an attempt to bridge the gap between the Zimbabwean political parties, which have failed to agree on sharing key ministries in the inclusive government.

It is very clear that the two parties have not made much progress to bring the inclusive government into life. We want to believe that the political leaders in Zimbabwe have failed the Zimbabwean people. The reasons for this failure are difficult to understand. There are decisions one can’t take out of pride or purely political strategy.

There are decisions that have to be taken out of principle and in line with the broad interests of the people.

If the interests and plight of the people of Zimbabwe were made to take precedence over the separate and collective power interests of the political leadership of that country, by now they could have found a way of ironing out the contentious issues on the remaining ministries. For instance, there were two proposals on the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The first option was to run the ministry on a rotational mode where parties alternate every six months, while the second option was to have co-ministers running the ministry. Progress was made but then the proposal was at some stage rejected. How can one explain this kind of behaviour from the political leaders of a country that is on its knees in so many ways?

We do not want to believe that it is that difficult to share the 31 ministries if there is political will and the spirit of give-and-take among the political leaders to ensure that they get down to work and address the various challenges that Zimbabwe faces today.

What this seems to indicate is that this agreement may not be so much about an all-inclusive government but that of two separate governments in one - one belonging to the President and another to the Prime Minister.

While all this bickering about who heads what ministry has been going on, the economic situation has not been any better.

The cost of living is high, unemployment and poverty is still on the rise, inflation is out of control and the leaders do not seem to show that sense of urgency to resolve the issue of an inclusive government so that they can start solving the problems that their people are facing which all of them, without exception are responsible in one way or another for their creation.

Yes, there are many considerations in a government of such nature looking at the fact that both parties have different policies, which have to be reconciled. But then again, time is not on their side.

For instance, hunger, poverty and disease will not take a break for them to resolve the impasse. These problems will continue to ravage the people while their leaders trek to and from South Africa to sort out the inclusive government.

Time waits for no one.

The Zimbabwean political leaders, including Mbeki, have always said the solution to that country’s economic and political crises lies with the Zimbabwean people themselves.

That is very true. But it is surprising that the same Zimbabwean leaders are failing to agree and they have referred the matter back to SADC.

We are not saying that it is wrong to refer the matter to SADC. We are mindful of the fact that the regional body in the first place called for the talks between the two parties in Zimbabwe. But one would expect that after the unity government agreement, the inclusive government would have been up and running by now.

If the three leaders cannot sit on one table and agree on the composition of Cabinet now, what guarantee is there that they will be able to resolve other issues that arise afterwards on their own even after SADC’s intervention?

Yes, SADC can decide for them but there has to be that willingness on the part of President Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Prof Mutambara to work together. And that willingness seems to be the missing link right now.

These leaders need to come to a realisation that, despite their differences, which may be justified, they have to work together for the people of Zimbabwe, to restore that country to the rightful place that it once occupied in SADC and the world. Their supporters, both MDC and ZANU-PF, also need to understand that they need to work together for the unity agreement to come to fruition.

As we have always said, we would like the problems in Zimbabwe to be sorted out and we know that it will not be done overnight. It is not an easy feat. It will take a lot of work, it will take a lot of sacrifice and compromise on the two parties involved. President Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Prof Mutambara will have to give up something important to gain something of higher value - the peace and stability in Zimbabwe.

Yes, they will feel like they have lost by agreeing to sacrifice certain interests and their power limits and vision will be drained and to some extent their spirits will be wounded, but they have to do this for the Zimbabwean people who are looking up to them to make the inclusive government workable.

There is need to ensure that all Zimbabweans of goodwill are allowed to participate freely in the affairs of their country and in the manner they deem fit. Again, this requires daily negotiations and compromises.

They should never get tired of talking to each other and compromising and building consensus with each other. There has to be unending accommodation of each other.

This does not only apply to the ruling ZANU-PF, but to opposition MDC as well.

The Zimbabwean leaders have no choice but to make the inclusive government a reality or make themselves irrelevant.

Labels: MDC, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, ZANU-PF

posted by MrK @ 10:11 PM