ZIMBABWE: New Deal Faces Challenges

By Vusumuzi Sifile

HARARE, Sep 16 (IPS) - Violent clashes broke out between supporters of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) outside the Rainbow Towers Hotel following the signing of a historic power sharing deal.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe of Zanu PF, and MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara signed an agreement Monday that will form an inclusive government involving their parties. The signing was witnessed by heads-of-state and representatives from 12 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.

While dignitaries and Zimbabwean political leaders were still celebrating inside the hotel, the two groups of supporters broke into song and dance, chanting their party slogans. This degenerated into violence as the supporters started insulting each other. Within minutes, stones were flying from either group.

Although riot police moved swiftly to contain the situation, analysts fear this is an indication of the bigger challenges the parties face in selling the deal to their supporters. "This shows the ordinary members of the parties are still not sure of their position in the new arrangement. Their mentality is still in the old setup when anyone from the other side was viewed as an enemy," said John Makumbe, a political science lecturer and strong government critic.

"The real test is in the allocation of ministries, which determines who holds too much power or too little. I view this deal as an egg. The contents inside are very good stuff, but the shell is very fragile and can be easily broken," Makumbe explained to IPS. "The violence, I think, brought into light some of the minor issues that could make or break the deal."

Political parties have to put national interest ahead of selfish and party interest, said Mutambara in his remarks after the signing. The document is a compromise document, he said, "which is the best short term measure to extricate ourselves."

"We have people who are going to work together who used to be enemies," said Mutambara. "This government has to make some very painful decisions to drive the country forward. Painful decisions, courageous decisions have to be taken. Leadership is about making unpopular decisions popular. We must deliver the promise of the agreement."

"People may ask, how we, who have been enemies for so long, will work together... Let us turn our fighting swords into ploughshares," said Tsvangirai. "I have signed this agreement because I believe it presents the best opportunity for us... the road ahead is long and will not be easy, it will need patience and virtue. I call on supporters of Zanu PF and the MDC to unite as Zimbabweans for the national good."

President Mugabe said there are salient principles in the agreement which have to be respected if unity is to last. Mugabe was retained as the head-of-state, but had his powers to control government clipped extensively.

"There are a lot of things in the agreement which I didn’t, and which I still don’t like. There are also a number of things in the agreement which he (Tsvangirai) didn’t like, and still does not like," said Mugabe.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, AU chairman, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, said the historic signing of the agreement is a victory for the people of Zimbabwe and "all people in the SADC region and the people on the continent".

Civil rights activist, Daniel Molokele said the deal could be used "as a good starting point for all of us as we try to take Zimbabwe forward".

But Brian Kagoro, a Kenya-based Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and political analyst, told reporters that the agreement was "not the best way to go".

"It was one of those unique cases, where either side was doomed if they signed the deal, and they were equally doomed if they didn’t," said Kagoro. "No negotiated settlement ever represents the best way to go. This ‘Kenya Tea’ export of negotiated democracy does not bode well for democracy on the continent. It suggests that the people’s popular will can be subverted with impunity by strong-men who after losing elections resort to stone age politics that depends on who has the bigger stone to throw or the larger stick."

Early this year, a political settlement was reached in Kenya after a disputed election last December that resulted in the death and displacement of thousands. "The fact that the same political pharmacological prescription forced down Kenyans throats has been replicated in Zimbabwe paints a grim picture for forthcoming elections in several African countries," said Kagoro.

"As a process, negotiated power-deals amongst elites entrench the politics of entitlement and patronage… The crude reality though is that people do not eat politics, they require food, shelter and other basic necessities that mere political squabbling cannot deliver."

National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku, shared the same sentiment. The "voices of ordinary people was not represented in the agreement," Madhuku stressed.

Bishop Ancelimo Magaya, a leader of the Christian Alliance, a grouping of churches and Christian civil society organisations, told IPS the violence after the signing of the agreement indicated what was "still entrenched in the minds of many Zimbabweans".

"There are still a number of rough issues to be dealt with, this is just the beginning. The challenge is now on the respective parties to instil that understanding and tolerance among their supporters," Magaya said.

As part of the new agreement, Mugabe will be President and will have two vice Presidents from Zanu PF. Tsvangirai will assume the newly created position of Prime Minister and have two deputies -- Mutambara and Thokozani Khupe.

Of the 31 ministers in the all-inclusive Cabinet, Zanu PF will have 15, MDC-T will have 13, and MDC-M three. Three ministers -- one representing each party -- may be appointed from outside members of Parliament. These three ministers shall have the right to sit, speak and debate in parliament, but shall not be entitled to vote.

Only 15 ministers will have deputies, to be split in the ratio of 8:6:1 between Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-M, respectively.

Furthermore, "Ministers and deputy ministers may be relieved of their duties only after consultation among leaders of all political parties," the agreement states. A nominee of the party which held that position prior to the vacancy arising will fill vacancies.

University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, Professor Eldred Masunungure, said the clash of Zanu PF and MDC supporters is one of the first indications of the "big challenge the parties will have to convince their supporters that this was indeed a worthwhile compromise".

"These are some of the issues that now need to be addressed. But the fact that we have the leaders agreeing shows that we have something," Masunungure told IPS .

For women and gender activists, it is not time to celebrate yet.

"As women we will celebrate when the Cabinet is announced. Up to this stage, it has only been the negotiators and their principals, and as you know, there was only one woman in the team," said Cleopatra Ndlovu, director of the Women in Politics Support Unit (WiPSU), a Harare based non-governmental organisation. "The announcement of a Cabinet will inform us of where the women are."

In addition pushing for women to form a significant number -- at least 30 percent -- of the Cabinet, Ndlovu said they would also campaign for women to be given some key ministries like Finance, Home Affairs and Education.

"This is coming soon after the signing of the SADC protocol on gender. The composition of this Cabinet will show Zimbabwe’s commitment or lack of it to the protocol. For us the announcement of the cabinet is a starting point."

(END/2008)