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(TALKZIMBABWE) Mugabe, Tsvangirai in radical paradigm shift

Mugabe, Tsvangirai in radical paradigm shift
Dr Obediah Mazombwe - Opinion
Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:22:00 +0000

THE politics of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are undergoing rapid and radical paradigm shift, which has confounded skeptics of the inclusive Government. Whilst the skeptics grope at various theories of doom, the same theories are rapidly discounted, one after another, by developments on the ground.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai has kept faith in the efficaciousness of the inclusive Government and in President Mugabe’s commitment to making it work. This in spite of lingering problems related to the jailed MDC activists accused of planning sabotage, and the problems encountered with getting Roy Bennett, the MDC’s deputy minister-designate for agriculture, freed on bail; as well as the squabbling over various government posts.

Meanwhile the President, whilst insisting and urging that Zimbabwe should under no circumstances jettison its cherished values of unfettered self-determination and total control of its natural resources, has vigorously reiterated his willingness to embrace the Prime Minister’s MDC party as a legitimate opposition in a power-sharing Government.

This is a complete reversal of his past attitude towards the opposition party.

The President’s remarks made on the occasion of the passing on of the late Amai Susan Tsvangirai, wife of the Prime Minister, clearly indicate a sea change in Zimbabwe’s multi-party politics. The President’s words show his preparedness to be candid enough to admit, and to come to terms, with our ugly past, and, more importantly, his heightened determination to make a clean break with that violent past.

“Political violence amongst our supporters must stop and we must work together to make sure that we have a good country and good lives for every body”, said the President.

“This issue of violence has been affecting our lives and families badly. People don’t know the troubles and dirty wars that we fight”.

“Many words have been exchanged before – some harsh and ugly”, said the president, clearly referring to the vituperative exchanges that have occurred between ruling party on the one hand, and the opposition party on the other, in the past.

“We have many followers. So many have lost their lives. Gone should be the days of violence”, said the President.

A western diplomat quoted in The Times of UK was heard to comment on the president’s remarks: “Mugabe’s gesture is remarkable – there really seems to be a sign of genuine sincerity and a willingness to work with the MDC”.

Later in the day, Edwin Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister’s eldest son, weighed in with his own support for the new emerging spirit of detente and rapprochement.

“I want to thank His Excellency the President, for his words that changed my understanding of him”, the young Tsvangirai said to the roaring applause of MDC supporters, and to the obvious chagrin of the cynics.

Some key players of both the President’s and the Prime Minister’s political parties have quickly rallied to their principals’ calls for collaboration and reconciliation.

Walter Mzembi, the forward-looking Minister of Tourism & Hospitality, and Zanu-PF MP for Masvingo South, last week publicly called for Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s special support for his efforts to penetrate the lucrative European tourist market. Indeed Mr Tsvangirai has already started to put his wait behind efforts to resuscitate our tourism.

And Roy Bennett the MDC’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture, on his release from jail last Wednesday, struck a refreshingly reconciliatory, but surprisingly resolute, attitude towards his prisoners.

Said Bennett, “conditions in that jail are brought about by hate. I bear no malice. In my heart, all I can do is move forward to build the country. If we don’t forgive, and there is no spirit of forgiveness, we are going nowhere. There are people who don’t want right to prevail, and want to keep believing that they have the power to do anything. But they are few and their time is coming to an end”.

It is the remarks by the MDC president and the party’s Secretary General, Tendai Biti, deferring to President Mugabe as “father” that have totally incensed skeptics of the inclusive Government most.

Addressing a crowd gathered to mourn Susan Tsvangirai in Buhera last week, Biti was quoted as saying, “President Mugabe is not just a head of state, he is also human”. Biti also said the President, in addressing them earlier, had “spoken as a father”.

The reference by the opposition to President Mugabe as “human” must sound quite treacherous to those who have striven hard to portray the president as an unmitigated “ogre”.

Following Biti’s remarks some skeptics now see the Finance Minister as joining “the fray of sprouting out a new image for Robert Mugabe”.

In fact, “sprouting a new image” for President Mugabe would be too tall an order for the MDC’s Biti to meet.

Speaking at Susan Tsvangirai’s memorial service, and a few days later at the burial of Retired General Vitalis Zvinavashe, the President seems to have made clear not only what “image” of himself he wants, but also the legacy which he wants to bequeath to Zimbabwe.

Whilst he bemoaned Zimbabwe’s past violent politics and wanted a clean break from it, he rigorously maintained that there should be no abandoning the national ideals of real political independence and total control of our natural resources. These are the ideals for which the likes of General Zvinavashe were prepared to lay down their lives, said the president.

Claims that the MDC, through its rapprochement with the ruling party, risks “abandoning the change agenda and falling into Robert Mugabe’s pockets” are quite baseless.

Zimbabwe blogger, Denford Magora’s caution that the MDC must be wary of Zanu-PF using the Prime Minister’s accident “for their cynical agenda to cause a fall-out between them (MDC) and the West and convert them (MDC) into nationalists” is worse than baseless and, in fact, constitutes a downright condescending attitude towards the opposition leaders.

Whether the MDC converts to nationalism or not is the party’s prerogative, but “change” has already started taking place on the Zimbabwean political landscape and, that, in fact, is the point of this article.

Indeed, down the road we have set ourselves on, we could even see some “regime change” in Zimbabwe, sooner rather than later. But this has to be regime change strictly at the behest of Zimbabweans themselves, and as part of a truly Zimbabwean agenda.

That regime change should not be prompted by, or be part of, some outsider’s agenda, for the simple reason that some external interests may not be reconcilable with our own national interests.

It is not only legitimate, but also imperative, that we protect our national interests. Protection of national interests, including national security interests, cannot be the exclusive prerogative of western or more developed countries in their engagement with the less developed ones.

Magora implies that nationalists are, of necessity, anti-West. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nationalism, like other “non-aligned” ideologies, might abhor the imperialist and hegemonic tendencies of some western institutions, but that does not make nationalism anti-west.

This writer fervently subscribes to pan-Africanist nationalism, but recognizes that there are some very admirable traits in contemporary western thought, worth emulating and incorporating into a truly universal humanism.

Zimbabwe needs to immediately enter into a constructive engagement with the whole international community, on the basis of equal partnerships. But it must eschew any “horse and rider” type of partnerships - at any cost.

Its approach to local and international politics must be “Afripolitan”, it must be characterised by an open-minded, but essentially Afri-centric, point of view. Africa’s and the world’s history behooves us to adopt such an approach.

The paradigm shift that we are currently witnessing in Zimbabwe’s politics augurs well for our nation’s movement in the right direction.

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Dr Obediah Mazombwe

Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 8:12 PM