(HERALD) Tsvangirai under fire
Tsvangirai under fireZIMBABWEANS have castigated MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai for delaying the formation of the envisaged inclusive Government and seeking to make the country ungovernable.
A number of people yesterday told The Herald that they blamed Tsvangirai for the stalled implementation of the broad-based agreement signed between Zanu-PF, MDC-T and the MDC.
On Monday, efforts to conclude the formation of the Government hit a brick wall after Tsvangirai again tabled fresh demands and rejected a Sadc proposal that would have brought finality to the long-drawn saga after initially assenting to it.
The opposition has demanded the enactment of a law governing the National Security Council and the unconditional release of several suspects linked to an opposition plot to illegally overthrow the Government through an armed insurrection.
MDC-T said these and other demands had to be met before they joined any government, a position many believe shows the opposition is taking instructions from the West, which said it had withdrawn support for the agreement Tsvangirai signed. Political commentator and independent Member of the House of Assembly for Tsholotsho North Professor Jonathan Moyo said the opposition party went into the agreement as a strategy to get into power through the backdoor.
"They signed the agreement so that they could entrench lawlessness as they believe that without a government the country would be ungovernable and they use the consequences to their advantage.
"They do not want a government in place so that President Mugabe takes blame for the con-sequences that befalls the country since there would not be any institution taking care of the people," he said.
"They want to have their cake and eat it. Look at how they have come up with ways to blame President Mugabe for the problems affecting the country.
"They call the cholera outbreak a ‘man-made crisis’, but we have had no Government since the inconclusive election of March 29 and the only people who have been sworn in are President Mugabe and his deputies including MPs with no ministers so the main target is the President.
"The delay has been created for that purpose because MDC-T believes that the longer it takes in implementing the political agreement, the sooner the collapse of President Mugabe," he said.
Prof Moyo said it was evident that Britain and the United States were pushing for a collapse of the agreement and Tsvangirai was working according to this agenda.
"Tsvangirai’s actions are not only mischievous, but he is trying to treat Zimbabweans as children. But they have also exposed Tsvangirai as someone who is not a leader but a follower.
"The manner in which he changes his decisions after ‘consultations’ disqualifies him as a leader. His actions have taken quite a toll on the ordinary Zimbabweans.
"But Sadc now knows what he is. He has exposed himself to President (Kgalema) Motlanthe of South Africa and Mozambican President Armando Guebuza.
"He (Tsvangirai) now misses former SA president Cde Thabo Mbeki more because he has seen that President Motlanthe has no patience for his tactics. Cde Mbeki was patient. He would sit there and listen but the other leaders would not take that from Tsvangirai," he said.
He added that the latest stand-off had also exposed MDC-T as a party "which cannot come into Government with others."
"They are not yet ready to go into Government but a party for destabilisation. They are not a serious partner to go with into Government," he said.
Prof Moyo expressed hope that the Sadc Extra-Ordinary Summit set for Monday next week would, in the interest of the country, support President Mugabe if he forms Government after the meeting.
"The question is not what the summit decides but what President Mugabe does after Monday with Sadc’s support. President Mugabe has shown extraordinary willingness to bend backwards to the MDC-T’s demands."
Another political analyst, Professor Eldred Masunungure, said the broad-based agreement was on the verge of collapse because of the widening rift between Zanu-PF and MDC-T.
"The meeting on Monday marked the last phase in efforts to salvage the political settlement. There were so many phases that have been gone through since the signing of the agreement last September but this was the most difficult of all phases but this is not the final position.
"The silver lining is the Extraordinary Summit scheduled for Monday next week. There is still some hope because the meeting has been called just before the African Union summit," he said.
"The problem is that it has taken time between signing and implementation. The long delay gives rise to fresh developments leading to such demands and the time lag and the forces behind such activities can only lead to unnecessary delays," he said.
Ordinary people said MDC-T’s latest demands had exposed Tsvangirai’s position as a front for Western interests in Zimbabwe.
"Tsvangirai does not want to see this agreement implemented because he comes up with new demands every time there is a meeting of Sadc leaders.
"He wants to see the country collapse before he takes over leadership of the country. Maybe, that is what his handlers have promised him, a total collapse of the country’s structures.
"Most of the demands he is making right now have been dealt with at the level of negotiators while there is a deliberate move by the MDC-T to re-open such issues," Thompson Magariro of Budiriro said.
"It is surprising that they have come up with another demand for a law establishing the NSC, which could further delay the formation of an inclusive Government.
"They have also come with a new list of ministerial allocations, something many of us believed was water under the bridge. I think the MDC-T should come out in the open and tell the nation that they do not want to be in this Government," Mildred Mapfumo said.
In their latest demands, MDC-T calls Cde Mugabe ‘President-designate’, a statement Zanu-PF has called "uncouth" and an unacceptable attempt to re-open the whole process from scratch.
Tsvangirai also refuses to recognise Prof Mutambara in his new set of demands and does not even mention him or his party by name.
"President Mugabe won the run-off after the inconclusive March elections and was duly sworn as Head of State and Government, so calling him that is a lack of respect for the agreement.
"Even in the agreement, there is no mention of President-designate and Tsvangirai is just trying to buy time and see through the demise of the agreement.
"I also do not understand why in their counter-proposal they have decided not to recognise Professor Mutambara who is an equal member of the opposition in the country," another Harare resident said.
Tsvangirai has been fighting hard to sideline Professor Mutambara from the agreement.
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
posted by MrK @ 7:40 PM
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