Opinion - Editorials   

Chance for Zimbabwe

On the surface, the agreement signed by three political formations in Zimbabwe to end eight years of internecine violence appears promising. Pushed and prodded by the leaders of the Southern Africa Development Community, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change have committed themselves to something more than a power-sharing arrangement. They have tried to address the deeper crisis by outlining programme s for de-politicising the government machinery and the Election Commission; reorienting the youth, the foot soldiers in the factional fights, towards national reconstruction activity; and liberalising the media. President Robert Mugabe will continue in his post and wield executive power as chairman of the Cabinet. Incoming Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who heads the bigger faction of the MDC, is to run the Council of Ministers that will implement the policies framed by the cabinet. With all the parties getting a share of Cabinet and Deputy Ministers’ posts, they will have a say in policy formulation as well as day-to-day governance. Given the desperate plight of the people, politicians need to display a high level of commitment to ensure that the new set-up delivers.

In theory, this arrangement gives the anti-ZANU-PF forces an edge since they will together have a majority of one in the Cabinet as well as the Council of Ministers. Much will depend on whether Mr. Tsvangirai can work with the head of the other MDC faction Arthur Mutambara, who is set to become Deputy Prime Minister. The arrangement does offer Mr. Mugabe scope for manoeuvre. However, in a recent interview, Mr. Tsvangirai expressed optimism that he could slowly sideline the President because even the ZANU-PF has begun drifting away from him. There are reasons to think that he may be right in his assessment. While Mr. Mugabe will continue to head the army, the generals could draw closer to the Council of Ministers that controls the purse strings. The police forces could also come under the control of an MDC Minister. However, Mr. Tsvangirai can hope to consolidate his position only if he can persuade the United States and other powerful international actors to remove sanctions on lending to Zimbabwe, procure sufficient aid, and provide succour to millions of Zimbabweans who have been pushed into economic disaster by the Mugabe regime.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Landmark event
Chance for Zimbabwe
UPA should not be myopic to world events
The real choice before Pakistan
Corrections and clarifications
Anti-terror laws
Say no to nuclear deal
Evolution vs creation
Why rickety vehicles?
Persistent “isms”
Market crisis
Embankments — or should we say entombments?

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu