Maravi

MDC-T must think for itself

MDC-T must think for itself

WHEN MDC-T released a statement insulting Islamic Republic of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and announcing that they would have nothing to do with his visit, the question that came to the minds of progressive Zimbabweans was: What exactly was the party’s gripe with the Iranian leader? Try, as we might, we could not find cause why the MDC-T leadership, being partners in Government, behaved in such a discourteous manner towards a guest of the State.

After reading the party’s charge-sheet against the Iranian leader, where they, among other things accused him of dictatorship and human rights abuses, we could not help but notice that the MDC-T leaders were, once again, reading the script of their Western allies.

For the record Mr Ahmadinejad is the democratically elected President of Iran having recently trounced the Western-backed Hossein Muosavi in democratic elections that were endorsed by all but the meddlesome Western governments.

The MDC-T and Iran have never crossed paths, but the MDC-T’s Western allies, the United States and Britain definitely have.

Western aversion to Mr Ahmadinejad can be traced from the triumph of the Islamic Revolution that deposed the Western-backed stooge regime of the Shah of Iran, King Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and the Iran-Iraq war that saw the US raise and sponsor Saddam Hussein, in a bid to sabotage the revolution.

So if there were any human rights abuses to speak of, they can be placed squarely on the doorstep of the Western governments that have been trying to impose their will on the people of Iran with disastrous results since 1979.

By choosing to side with such subversion, MDC-T leaders became guilty by association, which is why we applaud Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara, Zanu-PF and MDC legislators for taking Mr Tsvangirai and his party to task over their boycott of Mr Ahmadinejad’s visit.

Granted the MDC-T did this as a political party and as such was not reflecting Government’s position. Granted also that as a political party, the MDC-T has a right to choose friends of its choice, but that right falls away when it comes to Government business, MDC-T leaders are supposed to be in tune with the other parties in Government.

Mr Ahmadinejad was a guest of the State and deserved the respect of all parties in Government.

We urge MDC-T leaders to think for themselves and not be repositories of Western sentiment. They need to familiarise themselves with the history of our country to identify who is and who is not a friend of Zimbabwe.

The Westerners they hobnob with have never been there for us, but for their kith and kin resident here.

As we have said before, we share intricate historical, cultural, political and socio-economic links with Iran that transcend both time and space.

We have a common history dating back to the 13th Century when our forebears traded in gold and ivory, through the liberation struggle when the Islamic Revolution inspired the Patriotic Front to depose the settler regime.

Both our nations were born after protracted armed revolutions and have similarly raised the ire of Western governments by pursuing people-centred development paths. This explains the raft of sanctions the West imposed on our two countries.

Be that as it may, we have continued to forge closer ties through the Zimbabwe-Iran Joint Commission that has fostered increased co-operation in the areas of trade, technology transfer, agriculture, education and defence.

On the international front, Iran is at the centre of the Look East Policy adopted by Government at the turn of the millennium, a policy that has enabled us to prevail against the isolationist agenda of the Anglo-Saxon alliance.

We are also together with Iran in the Group of 15 and the Non-Aligned Movement, where we continue to agitate the developing world agenda.

So once again, we urge MDC-T leaders to think for themselves, learn to separate party from Government business and to read our history so that they know where our country came from and where it is going.

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, MDC

posted by MrK @ 4:17 PM