| "Therefore, in accordance with the party's constitution, the political agreement we signed on September 15th 2008, and in the best interests of the welfare of all Zimbabweans, the MDC has resolved to form an inclusive government with Zanu PF and MDC-Mutambara(the second and smaller MDC faction)". | | | These words form part of a statement issued by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main MDC faction, on 30 January 2009. Intense pressure to join a government of national unity had been placed on Tsvangirai and his party by the thirteen-nation Southern African Development Community leaders at their summit in Pretoria on January 26th.
Tsvingirai had found himself between a rock and a hard place. To enter into a unity government built on very fragile foundations was a huge risk to all that his party stood for, to its struggle for democratic governance over ten years, and to his personal integrity. To fail to enter was to distance himself from the regional leaders whose support is required for any political progress to be made.
The performance of these leaders in relating to the political stalemate in Zimbabwe had come under increasing criticism. The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference at their meeting in Pretoria in January 2009 stated that SADC must ‘stop supporting and giving credibility’ to the regime in Harare. It they fail to do this they are ‘complicit’ in ‘creating the conditions … that have resulted ...in noting short of passive genocide’.
The absence of unity, the breakdown of trust within society and the unhealed wounds of the past, shroud this agreement with a sense of unreality. It is only a few months (Oct. 2008) since Amnesty International reported that election violence in Zimbabwe between March and June 2008 led to ‘over 180 deaths and more than 9,000 people tortured and beaten’ and ‘at least 28,000 people displaced’. The reality of these recent events and the need for national healing seem to have been ignored in the deliberations leading up to the agreement.
According to the resolutions of the SADC leaders at their summit, the Zimbabwean Parliament will pass Constitutional Amendment 19 leading to the swearing-in of Tsvangirai as Prime Minister, and the deputy Prime Ministers. The swearing-in should take place by 11 February, 2009. Robert Mugabe as President will have executive power in this government of national unity; Tsvangirai will also have executive power. Ministerial portfolios will be shared. This sharing has been a matter of great contention.
Among other ministries, ZANU PF will retain control of the ‘security ministries’ (including defence) and the ministry of information, whereas the MDC will control the ‘social ministries’ (education, health, etc.). The latter ministries have become a ‘poisoned chalice’. Control over the ministry of finance, and related functionaries, remains unclear. SADC resolved that the control of the ministry of home affairs - which oversees the police - will be shared between the two parties. The MDC had sought full control over this ministry as the police have been accused over the years of playing a role partial to ZANU PF. The implementation of the agreement will be overseen by a committee composed of representatives of the different parties.
Only time will tell whether or not this government of national unity will bring political progress in the service of the common good. Currently the notion of the common good does not exist. According to the WFP well over half of Zimbabwe’s estimated population of 11 million people need food aid. Over 3000 people have died from cholera and 60,000 have been infected. 94% of the people are unemployed as the internal economy has all but collapsed. The country survives on remittances from the two to three million Zimbabweans in the diaspora, especially those in South Africa and Botswana.
Huge gestures of goodwill leading to the creation of minimal trust will be required immediately: the release from prison of the 30 to 40 political and human rights activists who have been detained in recent months, an end to the divisive rhetoric of the state media, an impartial role for the security services, and respect for the separation of powers between the three arms of state (executive, legislative and judicial) - in particular, respect by the executive arm for the decisions of the judiciary. This is indeed a tall order. Only when concrete signs such as these have become evident and power-sharing is seen to be a reality rather than just empty rhetoric, will the substantial flows of external capital required to resurrect the economy become available. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
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