ZIMBABWE - HARARE - (CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY) HON. MDC MP Jameson Z Timba responds to Professor Arthur Mutambara's article: Constructing a contextualised way forward.

 

The Alternative to the Global Political Agreement

 

Dr Mutambara in his article argued that " there is absolutely no alternative to the Global Political Agreement".

 

I disagree and my first contribution to his on-going political education is that there are no absolutes in politics. In fact politics is the art of the possible.

 

Where I agree with him is that I do not wish my country to collapse. Where I vehemently disagree with him is that we should just consummate this agreement at any cost.

 

I believe that we must be principled politicians. It would be good for our country if all the parties where to be sincere and consummate the agreement in a fair and equitable manner.

 

But if this cannot be achieved then alternatives must be pursued. One such alternative is an election where we give the people of Zimbabwe an opportunity to resolve the dispute between the political leaders in a free, fair and internationally supervised election.

 

In this respect I believe in and am bound by one of the founding principles of our party that "the mdc shall seek to win political power and form a government of the people through free, fair and direct elections."

 

An election as a way of resolving a failed coalition government is an international standard democratic practice.

 

The Prime Minister of Israel recently went to her President to ask for an early election because she had failed to build a coalition government. Italians have elections almost every year because of collapsing coalition governments.

 

Coming back home, our own proposed coalition with Dr Mutambara's party failed and the matter was put to the people of Zimbabwe on March 29,2008 to adjudicate and they did so loudly.

 

One of Dr Mutambara's reasons for not wanting an election is that he assumes that the people of Zimbabwe are not ready for an election.

 

I do not know where he has spoken to the people of Zimbabwe but I can say that our party leadership has been travelling the length and breath of this country meeting and conversing with the people of Zimbabwe.

 

I have attended some of the gatherings and the message from the ordinary person has been that do not accept a bad deal, and if the deal collapses we are ready for an election.

 

The ordinary Zimbabweans seem to understand that a bad deal will not necessarily resolve the problems that they are facing and will amount to job seeking in an unbankable Zanu-Pf government.

 

The leaders of MDC are not looking for jobs in a Zanu-pf government but seek to participate in a meaningful coalition government that can benefit the people of Zimbabwe. Dr Mutambara's other reason for not wanting an election is that there is no law under which one can be held. With greatest respect to the good Doctor, I think this is politically shallow.

 

If he believes that we can have a coalition government created by the 19th Amendment to the constitution after political negotiations why can we not amend our electoral laws after fresh political negotiations aimed at holding an election?.

 

Therefore my second contribution to his on-going political education is that politics guides the law and not vice versa. It is equally naïve for opposing political leaders to have our political decisions guided by what the President of Zanu-PF Robert Mugabe or his party is likely to agree or disagree to as suggested by Dr Mutambara.

 

If that is our thinking then we should not be in a political formation competing with Zanu-Pf but instead join their formation.

 

In addition, the AU resolution itself whilst it supported the creation of a government of national unity it also recognised the importance of restoring democracy in Zimbabwe. In the Resolution the AU said "

 

1. TO ENCOURAGE President Robert Mugabe and the leader of the MDC Party Mr Morgan Tsvangirai to honour their commitment to initiate dialogue with a view to promoting peace, stability, democracy and the reconciliation of the Zimbabwean people;…."

 

One cannot promote democracy whilst shunning elections. In the event that the Global political agreement and the government of national unity fail then the AU can still revert to article 1 of their resolution and facilitate dialogue that leads to the restoration of democracy, peace and stability through an internationally supervised election.

 

I do not want to believe that Dr Mutambara's shunning of an election is motivated by his personal experience in Zengeza West on March 29, 2008 where the people of that constituency rejected him in favour of the vibrant trade unionist Hon. Collin Gwiyo.

 

I equally do not want to believe that the good Doctor's motivation to agitate for an inclusive government at any cost is motivated by his desire to protect his political gains at the negotiating table which catapulted him to a Deputy Prime Minister designate position without Zimbabweans casting a single ballot in his favour. I still believe that the Doctor is committed to defending and protecting the right of Zimbabweans to choose leaders of their choice in a free and fair election until he proves me otherwise.

 

Finally, history has a funny way of repeating itself. In 1978, when Ian Smith could no longer contain the onslaught of our freedom fighters and the centre could not hold anymore he entered into a sell out agreement with internal leaders namely Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the late Chief Jeremaih Chirau and the late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole.

 

The internal nationalist leaders then went on a campaign to convince us that "there was absolutely no alternative to the internal settlement agreement" and we should accept the mule called Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. The people of Zimbabwe refused and continued to support our armed struggle leading to the Lancaster House talks and our independence in 1980.

 

Bishop Abel Muzorewa and the late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole made Ian Douglas Smith believe that they could stop the war and for that Ian Douglas Smith was willing to give them the shadow of power whilst he retained its substance.

 

Today the President of Zanu-PF and his party, our erstwhile liberation war leaders whom we have differed with in their management of our national democratic revolution and the fulfilment of the ideals of our liberation struggle want to make MDC a junior partner in a government in which they retain the substance of power whilst giving the MDC its shadow and Dr Mutambara is campaigning that we accept it as the only deal in town-Nada.

 

Zimbabweans fought for the right to choose their leaders in a democratic, free and fair election and the war cry was "one man one vote" and we should not give up that hard won right to anyone including to our erstwhile liberation war leaders.

The Way forward

 

Dr Mutambara in his article is at pains to lecture us that we should not go on a collision course with Sadc. Allow me to allay his fears and say categorically that I am not aware of anyone who is at war with SADC including the leaders of our party. What our party has done as contained in the National Council Resolution is that it has differed with the SADC resolution on the Zimbabwe crisis.

 

That to me is a healthy situation in a regional body that has one of its core principles the promotion of democracy and tolerance in the region.

 

Our party represents the majority of the people of Zimbabwe as exemplified by the results of March 29,2008 and it is to the people of Zimbabwe that our leaders ultimately defer in times like this.

 

I have no doubt that SADC which is a regional body which represents all the people of the region and not its leaders only will also defer to the majority voice in Zimbabwe.

 

The main areas of dispute now remain between the two main political parties and as such my advice is that Dr Mutambara, since he has secured everything that he wanted from this deal he can now step aside and let the two resolve their differences without him acting as a spoiler. The way forward therefore in my view is for the Sadc facilitator Thabo Mbeki to wake up from his slumber and call the negotiating teams to start work on the following:

 

The draft of the 19th amendment to the constitution

 

The allocation of governors according to the provincial results of the March 29 elections which would give MDC-T 5 governors' posts, Zanu-Pf 4 governors' posts and MDC-M 1 governor's post
The reconfiguring of ministerial portfolios and or the equitable allocation of the ministries based on the list agreed to and signed by the principals on September 11, 2008 so that this stage of the negotiation can be signed off since none of the principals has signed an agreement on the allocation of ministries other than holding non binding general discussions

 

Negotiate and produce a draft bill to govern the National Security Council
Agree on a method for the appointment of Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors and other key government appointments

 

Publicly issue a statement signed by the SADC Chairperson that the binding agreement is the one signed by the principals on September 11, 2008 and explain to the people of Zimbabwe how it was changed and by who.

 

Once the above have been agreed to and signed off by each party attach the same as a schedule or appendix to the September 11 Global Political Agreement, publish the full agreement, implement it and celebrate. With the right spirit the above can be completed within a week but without it can be forever.

 

Anything outside the above in my view will be a futile exercise. We cannot rush to consummate a still born agreement without exhausting fully the concerns of any of the parties to the agreement.

 

The argument that Zimbabwean people are suffering because there is no government is not an honest one. Zimbabwean people are suffering because of decades of dictatorship, corruption and economic mismanagement. 

 

Zimbabwean people are also suffering because they did not get the right support and protection from our regional institutions to ensure that they could participate in a free and fair election on June 27,2008 to enable them to choose the government of their choice. In addition, it is also dishonest to say that there is no government. There is a government but the only debatable point is its political legitimacy and legality.

 

After May 2,2008 the "Minister of Justice" Patrick Chinamasa reported that all the Ministers including his unelected self were continuing and the Acting Attorney General said that there was nothing legally wrong with it so we should stop hiding behind a fingure and let’s start serving the people whilst the political negotiations are being concluded.

 

In the event that the above processes fail, it is incumbent upon the facilitator to report to SADC that he has failed and probably do what he should have done a long time ago, that is, resign so that in his own words he does not continue to rule from the grave.

 

SADC at this stage can then either pursue an alternative to the resolution of the crisis which might include a free, fair and internationally supervised election or report to the AU that the Sadc mediation as mandated by the AU has failed and that it now seeks guidance from the continental body.

 

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

 

Hon. Jameson Z. Timba MP.
The author is the MDC member of parliament for Mount Pleasant Constituency in Harare and writes in his personal capacity and on behalf of MT Pleasant constituency and can be contacted on jz@mtpleasant.co.zw

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOKE OF THE DAY - A Zimbo who had not drank water for a long time and was very broke but badly needed a drink, went into a bar and challenged the bar man to give him small amounts of any brand of beer, spirit, brandy, whisky and their mixtures and he would be able to tell the bar man what the contents were. The bar man tried all he could but the Zimbo came out with the correct answers.

 

Finally he was ordered to go out for the last test and when summoned back he was given a glass of water to which he said “I am sorry, I have never tested this one before but if you were to market it, it wont sell.

 

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