Mugabe rages over ‘New Look’ Zanu doc

an extent that he has recalled all copies after the meeting and ordered that members of his Soviet-style politburo do not consider it or leak it to the media.
This is despite the fact that the author of the document, justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, was requested by the party’s leadership to write and present a discussion paper on the party’s rejuvenation in the face of growing anger against the regime.
“It is brutally honest,” said a politburo member speaking on condition of anonymity. “It opened a few eyes to the fact that you can’t change if you want to keep on doing the same thing.”
Several politburo members who have read the document provided a detailed summary of the two-part document. The first part addresses “the party’s image problem and resultant voter loss.” It gives a meticulous historical account of the party from its formation in Highfields in 1964 to the present.
“The paper notes that at some point the party began to make strategic mistakes because it misread the evolving politics of the late 90s,” said a politburo member.
The paper asks, for example, whether it was correct for the party not to have joined forces with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in 2003 during inter-party talks.
The second part of the document is what raised Mugabe’s ire, said politburo members. The document suggests that the party is perceived as a “personality cult” and asks questions about whether it is appropriate that Zanu (PF) leaders are “more popular than the party.”
It also questions the tribal balancing act in the presidium and the narrow zezuru ethnicism of the party, which have contributed to the party’s declining support since 2000.
The document suggests that the ruling party should “reposition to connect with wider constituencies and move away from regionalism that has come to characterize Zanu (PF)”.
It notes that the party needs to manufacture a new image “that connects with the people,” insinuating that it has lost touch with the needs of its voters. The paper states that the ideological stance should shift from its narrow ethnic base and adopt social democratic principles.
Party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira confirmed that Zanu (PF) was working on plans to update its socialist ideology. “We are going to produce an updated ideology for the party, we have had the ideology of socialism, but it needs to be updated in line with the changing times.”