D-day for GNU

Deputy secretary-general Elton Mangoma told The Zimbabwean that the final decision had not been reached by the October 31 deadline that had been set as the last day of consultations on whether to remain in government or pull out completely. “We have not yet concluded,” Mangoma said. “We should be meeting shortly, during the course of this week. The standing committee will meet first then we will have the national executive.”

An online poll by the MDC, which commenced on its website on September 24, revealed on November 1 that 51.1 per cent of respondents wanted the MDC to pull out of the government completely. Another 48.9 per cent wanted the MDC to remain in government.

Mangoma said the consultations with the people of Zimbabwe ended on October 31, but declined to divulge details of the key decision prior to the strategic meeting this week.

The Prime Minister’s party disengaged from forums where it interacted with Zanu (PF) as the executive arm of government, namely the Cabinet and Council of Ministers.

The party said it felt insulted by the way the partys treasurer-general and deputy Agriculture minister-designate, Roy Bennett, had been treated by the State following his arrest on what the MDC calls “trumped-up charges”. It also lambasted the failure to appoint MDC provincial governors, the unilateral appointments by President Robert Mugabe of the Attorney General, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, the alteration of ministerial mandates and the resurgence of violence in most areas across the country, among other issues.

The MDC said other toxic issues included the continued persecution of MDC MPs and other party functionaries, the disregard of the rule of law, the slow pace of Constitutional, media and the security sector reforms.

Mugabe on Saturday indicated he was determined to resolve the political dispute with the MDC, which is threatening to sink the power-sharing government. Mugabe told mourners at the burial of a senior member of his Zanu (PF) party on Saturday that the dispute would be addressed as a domestic issue. “We are glad that we are talking about it. We are treating it as a domestic political problem, and our attitude is that ultimately it is up to us as Zimbabweans to sort out our problems,” he said.

Top level sources in MDC said that a slim majority of the people consulted in the rural areas had urged the party to slug it out with Zanu (PF) in government instead of pulling out. The eight-month-old administration has been credited with stabilising the economy and ending hyperinflation which peaked at trillions of percent last year. However, the government remains blighted by internal squabbles.

A ministerial troika that visited Zimbabwe last Friday announced at the end of its mission that Southern African states would soon hold a summit on the Zimbabwe crisis, and urged parties to attend to all outstanding issues arising from the implementation of the global political agreement and the SADC summit communiqu of January 27, 2009.