Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) We can still learn from Egypt

CCOMMENT - More illegal 'regime change' talk from the MDC. What they cannot get around i sthat Zimbabwe is a democracy, and that the MDC, unlike in Egypt, Tunisia, etc. has had a chance to convince the Zimbabwean electorate to vote for them. When they fail to convince the Zimbabwean people that austerity is good for them, that foreign mining companies should own their diamonds, this is not a failure of democracy, but it's triumph. This article highlights the confusion coming out of the neoliberal MDC agenda. The writer at least admits that the MDC and NGO activists are divorced from the Zimbabwean people. However, his claim that Zimbabweans refuse to join them in the streets is 'because of fear' rings very hollow, when you remember how the ZANU-PF came to power. There was no deficit of courage among the fighters who invaded Rhodesia from Mozambique, Botswana or Zambia. And Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrein have no scary security services? How about this obvious observation: the people of Zimbabwe, however much browbeaten by economic sanctions, do not want neoliberalism and the austerity, joblosses and economic alienation they experienced under the IMF's ESAP.

We can still learn from Egypt
22/06/2011 00:00:00
by Melusi Nkomo

THE little tension that gripped Zimbabwe at the beginning of the ‘Arab spring’ revolutions in North Africa disappeared quite fast for two main reasons.

The most obvious of these reasons is undeniably the ever present menace of physical force that the regime could easily use against civilians with impunity. The second one is the idea that “Sub-Sahara or rather Zimbabwe is not North Africa”, and therefore nothing that happened in Egypt and Tunisia can be replicated in Zimbabwe.

The latter reason was successfully peddled by some in the academia and then reinforced by ZanuPF with the result that Zimbabweans where cowed down and a promisingly explosive situation was doused.

Although genuine differences exist between Zimbabwe and North Africa, Serbia or any other place where successful “people power” revolutions were carried out, Zimbabwe can still learn a lot from the experiences of these countries.

The examples of deposed dictators like Hosni Mubarak and Slobodan Milosevic make interesting cases. These were iron-fisted men who were by no means less brutal than Robert Mugabe. In fact, Milosevic oversaw Europe's worst carnage since the Second World War in July 1995. Nearly 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were massacred. His choke hold on Serbia was also extended to the forcible displacement and mass rape of nearly 30,000 Bosnian women and girls.

Like Zimbabweans today, the Serbians were also treated to daily doses of spine-chilling utterances from their national army generals like General Ratko Mladic. The task was not made any easier for the Egyptians either. They also had an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with a recalcitrant tyranny of 30 years and prevailed.

It is evident that these populations also faced severe limited options and most of them, like Zimbabweans today, believed that the best option was to wait patiently for change to come from somewhere. The sad thing about this waiting was that it was shrouded in excessive despondency and painful apprehension. Yet at some point, the peoples of Serbia and Egypt realised the meaning in the famous words of philosopher and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, who advised that “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” This was indeed an epiphany that toppled dictatorship and when it happened it was fast, sweet and swift.

What is the main lesson that the Zimbabwean pro-democracy civil society can draw from the experiences described above? To begin with, the quest to establish a democratic polity gathers momentum and there comes a point in time when no amount of repression can stop freedom fighters.

The movements in both Egypt and Serbia were never spontaneous. This misconception has been rich fodder for those who are allergic to change and promote anti-democracy mantras like “Zimbabwe is not North Africa”. These mantras have become so useful for Zanu PF and a small quarter of the Zimbabwean society that is corruptly benefitting from the current state of affairs and therefore would do anything to extinguish any idea that points towards mass pro-democracy civic-engagement.

The April 6th movement which played a fundamental role in the Egyptian revolution had three year of painstaking effort to plan for the single event that saw Hosni Mubarak fall by the wayside. Starting with the El-Mahalla El-Kubra workers’ demonstration in 1998, the “Facebook group” did not go into hibernation. They did not wait for another “spontaneous” moment -- this would have been a grave mistake that would have seen Egypt miss the Arab spring freedom train.

Instead, they went back to the drawing board, rebranded and re-strategised. They sent delegates to exchange ideas with movements such as Otpor in Serbia. Otpor successfully managed to carry out a people power revolution with admirable success.

One good lesson for Zimbabwean civil society is that ‘April 6th’ did not just end with foreign excursions and no action at home. No amount of “strategic planning” workshops can challenge Mugabe on the streets of Harare. Unfortunately, this has become the bane for our pro-democracy movement.

Defying all odds, ‘April 6th’ began engaging with the ordinary Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez citizens - and take note – the engagement was done at a very personal level. The results for such innovative strategies speak for themselves, the revolution took off this year and the movement was not a stranger to its own people.

Zimbabwean pro-democracy movements have to rebrand, re-strategise and cease to be strangers to the very people they purport to fight for. I will always emphasise that activism in Zimbabwe should cease once and for all to be an “ivory tower”. More often than not, less than a hundred democracy marchers are reduced to a mere spectacle, an amusement on the streets of Harare or Bulawayo.

Indeed, the issue is not that the spectators are not interested in the issues being advocated for, but the “experts” in Zimbabwe have not yet begun to help Zimbabweans break through the barrier of fear. Zanu PF has cultivated the myth that fear is cultural and inherent in all Zimbabweans. This myth has unfortunately almost found a foothold in the society.

It is surely a hard fact that the Mugabe regime will pay infiltrators to pretend to be activists and or engage in destructive pogroms. This also existed in Serbia and Egypt, and in the case of Egypt these militias were even well paid. The pro-democracy movement should become innovative and device new strategies that go beyond 50-man marches along Nelson Mandela Avenue and help ordinary Zimbabweans break the stranglehold of fear. Dictatorships have a recreancy for out of the box non-violent thinking. Violence only gives them a cover story to repress more.

A common observation made about the movements in Serbia and Egypt is that they enjoyed a lot of assistance from the West, particularly the United States. An estimated US$41 million was used to bankroll the Serbian revolutions which booted out Milosevic through pro-democracy groups such as Otpor. Alternative radio stations were set up. The Egyptians were also significantly funded at the beginning, but as time went on the funding was significantly cut.

It is also true that Zimbabwean Civil Society received and is continuing to receive a lot of funding from the West and alternative sources of media have been set up. There is thus nothing to stop emulation of Serbians and Egyptians.

What distinguishes Zimbabwean civil society from their European and North African counterparts is the apparent inability to bring divided groups and individuals together for a common cause. They must take a leaf out of the experiences in North Africa and Serbia where the movements gathered and agreed to first find and tackle a unitary objective -- that is removing the regime.

Genuine fighters for democracy must realise that a new people-driven constitution will never come isolated from workers’ rights; children’s rights; women’s right or be isolated from students’ rights. All this will definitely come when the main obstacles is removed in unison.

Popular marches should be viewed as a way to mobilise against Mugabe by Zimbabwean people and not a personal achievement of one movement. Power lies in the people!

Labels: EGYPT, NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 4:21 PM