Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Demystifying outstanding issues, GPA

Demystifying outstanding issues, GPA
Dr Joseph Kurebwa - Demystifying outstanding issues, GPA
Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:09:00 +0000

PROBABLY no other term has dominated the nomenclature of Zimbabwean politics in recent months than "outstanding issues". Such issues nearly aborted the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the formation of the inclusive Government, which is now deeply divided along partisan lines.

Although the issues have tended to vary in number and substance over the months, they all are part of an ingenious and well-calculated strategy to tip the balance of power towards the two MDC formations.

In the language of Western donor nations, the more Zanu-PF irreversibly concedes power to the MDC, the more the former demonstrates its willingness to share power and, therefore, the more the donor nations will be willing to loosen their purse strings to extend aid to Zimbabwe. Inversely, the slower the transfer of power the greater the evidence there is of Zanu-PF intransigence, therefore the more reason to extend sanctions.

For MDC, the outstanding issues serve both as a decoy to bargain Zanu-PF out of power and an excuse for the failure to meet unrealistic promises made by party leaders to their supporters. The party has done much in the name of practical politics which now clearly proves hard to undo.

Key appointments

The resolution of the protracted dispute over the sharing of permanent secretary posts was anticlimactic, MDC having realised that the incumbents were suitably qualified, experienced and placed.

Furthermore, MDC conceded that civil service posts should not be politicised, as if they had all along been unaware of the fact.

But more dramatic was the furore over the allocation of Cabinet posts. MDC eventually acquiesced to take by and large social portfolios in the vain belief that donors would fund MDC-controlled ministries and departments directly and leave Zanu-PF in a lurch.

Presumably this would render the Government lopsided, and a pointer to voters on who to support in any future election.

Ambassadorial appointments also should not be made on a partisan basis, since office-bearers project the image abroad of the inclusive Government rather than that of political parties.

Technically, it is erroneous to seek the reversal or variation of the appointments and re-appointments of provincial governors which took effect on August 25 2008 prior to the coming into existence of the GPA. Doing so would amount to simply trying to turn back the hands of time, which is an exercise in futility.

A further aberration has been the demand that service chiefs should salute the Prime Minister, an honour which is not enforceable at law. The demarcation between state and government, the President heading the former and the Prime Minister the latter, is functional and should not be blurred for political expediency.

Within Government circles current debate on the outstanding issues has crystallised around the offices of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, and the Attorney-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, in the process sucking in service chiefs, traditional leaders, war veterans and business, among others.

MDC claims that President Robert Mugabe made the two appointments irregularly because he did not consult with the other two principals, namely Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, presumably as stipulated in the GPA, are misconstrued and without merit.

Article XX Paragraph 20.1.3(p) of the GPA states that the President "in consultation with the Prime Minister, makes key appointments the President is required to make under and in terms of the Constitution or any Act of Parliament".

Dr Gono was re-appointed on November 26 2008 and Mr Tomana was appointed the following month (December 17). At the material time of these appointments the GPA had long been signed, but the Prime Minister-designate, Mr Tsvangirai, and his party were still undecided whether to join the inclusive Government or not.

However, inasmuch as President Mugabe would have wanted to consult with the Prime Minister on these two appointments at the time of making them or any other key appointments at that, there was practically no one in the country answering to that title.

An important politically stubborn fact to recognise here is that the signing of the GPA did not in any way halt the various processes of Government pending the coming on board by the MDC.

It is impractical politics for the MDC to argue that President Mugabe should have delayed the appointments until such a time the MDC considered it opportune to join the Government, even if this had taken forever and a day. Alternatively, MDC contends, the appointments could have been effected but rescinded later to accommodate MDC whims.

Security of tenure for all public servants is critical if the Government is to function as a single, coherent whole and in the interest of national stability.

Appointments to public offices are made in the national interest and not to suit the idiosyncratic dispositions of certain individuals. The dictates of law, necessity and individual suitability for office apply, rather than whether X likes Y or not.

Dr Gono’s re-appointment occurred at the height of financial turmoil in Zimbabwe, which either entailed his continuity at the helm of RBZ or immediate replacement by another individual. Similarly, the insistence that the Government should have continued without a chief legal advisor, who is a vital cog if the legal machinery of the country is to function efficiently, calls into question the intentions and wisdom of the people making such claims.

A cardinal principle on government is that key posts should not be left vacant unduly in order to avoid systemic dysfunction.

Failure to fill expeditiously key positions in the country’s monetary and legal systems would have amounted to dereliction of duty on the part of President Mugabe, which is an impeachable offence since he would have wilfully violated the country’s Constitution.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has thrown tantrums about Dr Gono’s style of monetary governance, especially printing money and conducting quasi-fiscal activities.

Mr Biti is well aware that the GPA draws a line through the past, that is, it has no retrospective effect on the period preceding the formation of the inclusive Government.

This last point is particularly important if parties to the GPA are to exercise good sense, commit themselves fully to the important task of administering the country, and avoid burning their limited energy on unnecessary political grandstanding.

Debating the merits and demerits of State intervention in the economy spearheaded by Dr Gono therefore falls outside the purview of the inclusive Government and is of mere academic interest.

Although the GPA was signed on September 15 2008, it only came into operation on February 11 2009 with the swearing in of the Prime Minister and his two deputies.

During the interim period there was the huge possibility of the agreement falling through. So shallow is the GPA that it does not define whether its life begins at conception or birth, has no "divorce clause" and other salient features.

So the issues of procedure and timing in respect of the appointments of Dr Gono and Mr Tomana fall away.

What remains is the political significance for the coalition parties of either rescission or confirmation of the appointments, which is a matter of political opinion and not legality.

Mr Biti’s first lesson in realpolitik is undoubtedly that making a public undertaking to remove Dr Gono from the RBZ to court donor aid was an unwise thing to do.

But for him to turn around and castigate the same donor countries for maintaining sanctions citing as a reason Dr Gono’s continuation at the central bank sounds weird.

Value system

The GPA outlines a value system that defines the broad aspirations and beliefs of the people of Zimbabwe, thus providing a cohesive force binding them together as members of the same political community.

This value system should allay inhibitive fears among individuals and groups about winners and losers in political endgames.

All Government office-bearers are there to serve the country impartially, irrespective of their political backgrounds and affiliations. Similarly, the citizenry expects public officers to treat them equally, fairly and justly, their political persuasions notwithstanding.

Reference of non-issues such as the appointments of Dr Gono and Mr Tomana to Sadc and the AU, as guarantors of the GPA, by MDC is customary beggar-thy-neighbour approach.

The professional conduct of the two civil servants, and that of all public officers, should be governed by the relevant statutes, and they should suffer no prejudice from ministers seeking to score cheap political points.

After a decade-long career in the opposition some politicians might find adjusting to their new roles as government decision-makers rather tedious and dull, hence hurl the customary abuse at erstwhile opponents who are now their colleagues.

If senior politicians tread forwards with their heads turned over their shoulders, then ordinary citizens should find change management doubly cumbersome.

Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, NEOCOLONIALISM

posted by MrK @ 6:05 PM