/ 22 August 2008

MDC: Brown’s Trojan horse?

Morgan Tsvangirai at the SADC summit on the weekend. Photograph: Lisa Skinner
Morgan Tsvangirai at the SADC summit on the weekend. Photograph: Lisa Skinner

”The MDC is the Trojan horse of British interests … Why do you think after every little thing that is put on the table (Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan) Tsvangirai has time for reflection? It gives him time to consult with the white people.”

In an interview with the Mail & Guardian this week Robert Mugabe spokesperson George Charamba’s comment underscored the intense underlying hostilities that have left the Zimbabwean settlement talks in ruins. Charamba indicated Zanu-PF’s intention of swallowing up the MDC, much as it did Zapu after the 1987 agreement, saying that the talks had to be concluded speedily because this would shift the MDC ”out of the way”.

”Only when the talks are over will the MDC become the national party with a national consciousness,” he said. ”We need the MDC out of the way so that Zimbabweans are on the same side. Then we can begin to discuss who owns what in Zimbabwe.”

Charamba also denied any economic crisis in Zimbabwe, saying: ”I don’t know what you are terming as economic decline. In terms of the stats, Barclays is declaring a dividend every year; so does Stanbic and Zimplats.

”All the real players are sticking it out and doing brisk business … The condition of the Zimbabwean black will remain the same for years from now.”

Despite the weekend summit of the Southern African Development Community, which focused on the Zimbabwean crisis, there was no further movement towards settlement this week. Zanu-PF leader Mugabe and Tsvangirai are digging in their heels, insisting they will not move from their closing positions in last week’s talks.

Mugabe’s insistence on reopening Parliament has escalated tensions and made a settlement look even more unlikely.

The Memorandum of Understanding, which set the agenda for the talks last month, barred him from convening Parliament without the consent of the other parties to the negotiations. But the SADC undermined this by giving its blessing to the reopening of the legislature. It also bought President Thabo Mbeki’s view that the MDC is the principal obstacle to settlement and urged Tsvangirai to soften his stance.

Although Tsvangirai said he would not oppose the opening of Parliament, MDC general secretary Tendai Biti said in a statement that ”convening Parliament decapitates the dialogue”.

MPs have been out of work since the March 29 elections and want their salaries and parliamentary perks restored.

Zanu-PF believes reconvening parliament will heighten pressure on Tsvangirai to sign the proposed deal in its current form. Zimbabwean law requires the appointment of a new Cabinet as soon as Parliament is sworn in.

Mbeki was hoping for a settlement by last Sunday. ”Together with the rest of our region, the leaders of the people of Zimbabwe hope that by this day, SADC Day [August 17], they will have concluded their negotiations, creating the possibility for them to act together to resolve the political and socio-economic challenges this sister country faces,” he wrote in a message printed in an SADC booklet distributed in Sandton.

The main logjam in the talks remains the division of powers between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in a new government, with the MDC insisting that this should reflect its superior showing in the first presidential election in March.

Zanu-PF argues that as Tsvangirai did not participate in the June 27 elections, he cannot lead the government. The June elections were widely condemned as neither free nor fair.

The MDC is now looking to Mbeki to pressure Mugabe into making concessions. ”We’re not moving from this point. Our position will not change,” an MDC insider told the M&G.

Tsvangirai’s strongest bargaining chip is Zimbabwe’s continuing economic implosion and the fact that he holds the key to the international economic aid the country desperately needs. He also calculates that without his participation, the government will face the same crisis of legitimacy as it did immediately after the presidential run-off.

However, MDC officials worry that he has overplayed his hand, as Mugabe is indifferent to the state of the economy and solely preoccupied with retaining power.

Said one: ”For him and the people around him things are just fine. The worse the economy does the better for them. They can buy foreign currency at the Reserve Bank at low rates and sell it for much more. They are making a lot of money out of the crisis.”

Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu-PF’s chief mediator, also indicated this week that his party will make no further concessions. Parliament must now convene, he said, ”and we must carry on with the business of running the country”.

”There is no basis whatsoever to justify Tsvangirai’s demands,” Chinamasa said. ”He wants President Mugabe to become (former titular president Canaan) Banana. But judging by the March 29 election, there can be no basis for these demands. What he is asking for is a transfer of power, not a sharing of power,” said Chinamasa.

Mugabe, who insists on appointing and chairing Cabinet, has offered Tsvangirai the deputy chair. Zanu-PF officials claim the prime minister’s proposed powers exceed those of Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
The MDC countered by offering Mugabe the position of army commander, which he refused.

Tsvangirai wants to appoint his party deputy Thokozani Kupe as deputy prime minister, with the other deputy post held by Zanu-PF.

The MDC says it will continue negotiating and that the reconvening of Parliament will not affect its stance. ”The economy will implode within three to four months,” said one MDC official. ”If he [Mugabe] wants to go ahead and deal with inflation of 11-million percent with an imitation government, he can do so.”

However, the official conceded that the SADC summit at the weekend was a disappointment, as the MDC had hoped the region would ratchet up the pressure on Mugabe.

An African diplomat sympathetic to Mugabe said that member states had told Tsvangirai to ”stop being a stumbling block and sign the agreement” after receiving information and documents about the Zimbabwe talks.