2008 Articles 25 Dec Kingdom Come 21 Dec Christmas 15 Dec Step Forward 5 Dec Beginning 1 Dec Amendment 30 Nov Facilitation 26 Nov Genocide 24 Nov Running Out 17 Nov Crisis 15 Nov Somalia 12 Nov What Next? 8 Nov Leadership 2 Nov Chipo 1 Nov Rome Burns 29 Oct Failure 25 Oct High Noon 19 Oct Never Easy 10 Oct Abyss 8 Oct Filibustering 4 Oct Chaos in Zim 29 Sept A Mule? 21 Sept On Step 16 Sept The End 12 Sept New Beginning 11 Sept Deal? 6 Sept Consequences 3 Sept Need a Deal 2 Sept Dollar Died 31 Aug Steering 29 Aug Unstuck 23 Aug Betrayed 18 Aug The Devil 13 Aug 13 Aug 08 12 Aug Today 11 Aug Cliffhanger 8 Aug Whats Going On 27 Jul Progress 22 Jul Agree to talk 21 Jul Mbeki kicks 16 Jul Crunch Time 13 Jul Economics 9 Jul Reality Looms 2 Jul Where? 30 Jun Looking Glass 26 Jun Battle 22 Jun What Now? 21 Jun The Commitment 16 Jun Do or Die 13 Jun Morning After 10 Jun Closing Doors 26 May Current Outlook 24 May Fan Club 19 May Tyranny 17 May End Game 15 May Flushing 8 May Violence 6 May Bizarre Process 25 Apr Cornered 20 Apr Electoral Fraud 19 Apr Jesse 17 Apr This Farce 11 Apr The Devil 6 Apr Wounded Buffalo 1 Apr Dying Kick 31 Mar Politcl Tsunami 27 Mar Current Situ. 26 Mar 4 days to go 21 Mar 8 days to go 15 Mar Election Time 27 Feb Games Begin 17 Feb Public Office 11 Feb Choices 4 Feb Decision Time 26 Jan Ambushed 25 Jan The Struggle 20 Jan Truth or Fiction 12 Jan Mugabe Mistake 8 Jan Surprise 2 Jan Kenya Lessons
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It never was going to be easy
When we signed the deal on the 15th September we never thought it was going
to be easy. Subsequent events have shown how difficult it's going to be to
make this deal work for all of us. Problems arose almost before the ink was
dry.
Anyway, here we are a month later and another painstaking and tension filled
week with no progress on the formation of a new power sharing government. On
the surface it looks quite simple. All we have to do is allocate 31
Ministerial portfolios and 15 deputies. The agreement clearly established
the principles - this is a power sharing deal in which MDC has a slight
majority because of its victory in the March elections. But no, for 4 weeks
the negotiators have battled it out over the allocation, with Zanu PF
claiming that it is their right to hold all the senior cabinet posts. I have
yet to hear any rational explanation of why that is so, but then who said
politics was a rational game?
The MDC position is clear and logical - we want a fair allocation of the
more senior Ministerial posts and all other senior political appointments
(such as governors). We won 5 out of 10 provinces, 100 out of 210 seats in
Parliament (99 Zanu PF and 10 Mutambara and 1 independent) and we took over
half of all the votes cast.
After three weeks of argument (let's not call these 'talks') we had got
nowhere. Several times MDC had requested SADC intervention and each time the
Zanu PF team had said 'no, we can sort this out ourselves' and Mbeki had
continued to watch from the sidelines. Eventually Mr. Mugabe made another
mistake and error of judgment. He went ahead and published in the Government
Gazette a full list of the Ministries and to which Party they had been
allocated. This was a step too far and there was an immediate outcry with
MDC stating that they would never accept such an arrangement and accusing
Zanu PF of acting unilaterally and outside the letter and the spirit of the
September agreement.
It was enough to bring in the South Africans. Mbeki announced on Saturday
that he would fly to Harare on Monday and that his mediation would resume on
Tuesday. With the changes taking place in South Africa and in the ANC, this
was not a welcome development as far as Zanu PF was concerned. Mbeki arrived
late on Monday in a South African military jet and on Tuesday he sat down
with the negotiating teams to hear what the problem was. That afternoon he
met with the three Presidents and it was then that Mr. Mugabe simply
stonewalled any attempt to agree to a balanced and logical position.
This continued on Wednesday and eventually MDC tabled a written proposal,
which set out what they regarded as the 20 most senior cabinet portfolios
and proposed that these be equally shared between the MDC and Zanu PF. The
remaining 11 portfolios would go 4:4:3 between the three Parties. That
spurred a flurry of counter proposals - each more crazy than the next and
eventually Mr. Tsvangirai said to the mediator, 'this is going nowhere, let'
s take this to the SADC'. He agreed and on Monday the SADC Troika on
Politics and Security will hold an emergency meeting in Swaziland to try and
resolve the matter. That was the last thing Zanu wanted but by playing
hardball and over reaching themselves they opened to door to regional
intervention.
Morgan Tsvangirai has continued his programme to explain the situation to
our long-suffering supporters and yesterday he spent the day in Bulawayo.
His is a very punishing schedule - he went to bed on Friday after 23.00 hrs,
was up at 04.00 hrs for a 5 hour drive to Bulawayo and then went straight
into a breakfast meeting with the local business community. That went on to
10.30 when he met local MDC leaders, and then into the high density housing
suburbs for a 'walk about', visiting a feeding scheme for the local
community and then a rally in White City Stadium. I would guess we had about
25 000 people there. Then after that closed down, a quick meal and then they
were off back to Harare to prepare for Swaziland.
But why is this issue so important and difficult to resolve? It's because
what is at stake is the transfer of power in Zimbabwe, from a
military/civilian Junta that has held power for at least a decade and has
made all key decisions in the past 5 years, to a Council of Ministers and
Cabinet drawn from a newly elected House of Assembly controlled by the MDC.
It is a return to democratic governance after 28 years of creeping autocracy
and corruption.
The Junta has everything at stake - the loss of power, the loss of
privilege, the withdrawal of protection from the law. In each sphere this
small coterie of individuals has been living the life of Riley in the midst
of economic collapse, unemployment, hunger and starvation. They have had
access to a life style that would be the envy of most hard currency
millionaires in other parts of the world - large luxury homes, every
appliance you can think of, the most expensive luxury cars, girl friends and
weekend retreats on farms or hunting lodges. Their orders have been
instantly obeyed and they have been able to arrange the murder and rape of
their critics and opponents.
Everywhere else in Africa this struggle for political power has eventually
been decided in the bush and on the streets with gunfire and physical
violence. In Zimbabwe, after many attempts to win power by democratic means
but always being frustrated by blatant rigging and cheating, the MDC has
finally won a famous victory and is now forcing its opponents to negotiate a
transfer of power. No matter how you dress it up - that is what is taking
place.
Evidence that things are already changing is everywhere - yesterday there
were no police present - not one. Gone was the circle of roadblocks and
baton wielding riot police in trucks. In Parliament, the MDC is already in
charge - driving the agenda and determining the outcome. The majority, even
in Zanu PF, now wants the change and wants to help make this power sharing
arrangement work. So does the entire region. The Junta has simply run out of
places to hide and arguments to make against the tide of change.
In Parliament this week one of our younger MDC Members of Parliament made
his maiden speech. In it he read out to the House a list of the names of
those killed in his constituency since the March elections, blaming young
thugs controlled and directed by military officers, for the crimes. He was
heard in total silence and I watched the faces of the Zanu PF members on the
opposition benches - they were silent and shamed. Later that day the MDC
tabled a motion for debate on the violence and called for a Parliamentary
inquiry. This evoked a strong response from the Zanu benches - MDC is being
'divisive' they argued. 'This will not help the inclusive government', they
claimed. That might be true, but it does not alter the facts and that is
something they will all have to face eventually.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 19th October 2008
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