Zanu prepares for Conference

Mugabe, who has enjoyed uninterrupted rule since independence in 1980, has already been endorsed by his party as the presidential candidate, and the conference is widely expected to strategise for that poll. The land and broad empowerment issue will remain Zanu PF’s rallying point to woo a restive electorate that has seen steadily falling living standards since the last conference last year. Zanu-PF, which suffered its first defeat in March 2008 and was forced to form a unity government with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), will be expecting that the conference strengthens the party’s campaign thrust, they hope, and present a facade of being firmly in charge. Conceding ground right now and capitulating on outstanding issues as demanded by the MDC and SADC, would be disastrous for the party, a senior Politburo member said. The Zanu PF official, who like other officials spoke on condition of anonymity, said Zanu PF would resist attempts by the MDC and SADC to arm-twist the party to stick to the GPA pact, including allowing MDC governors into office, firing the Reserve Bank governor and Attorney General and swearing in Roy Bennett as deputy Agriculture minister, who is currently on the police wanted list on what the MDC says are trumped up charges.

The officials said the interpretation of the GPA pact by the MDC and SADC, and its possible influence on next year’s presidential poll that Mugabe could lose, had pre-occupied Zanu PF discussions in the past few weeks, our source said.

South Africa and the SADC are making little progress in efforts to force Zanu PF to implement the pact. Zimbabwe officials had agreed at a August 15 meeting of SADC heads of State officials to resolve three of the 29 outstanding issues that remain unresolved.

SADC then set a 30day timeline for Zanu-PF and MDC to implement the outstanding issues. Our sources all confirmed that the party will continue playing the sanctions issue in refusing to have MDC governors in office. The MDC says it doesnt recognise anymore the incumbent Zanu PF governors because their term has expired. On provincial governors, the parties agreed that “while agreeing on the appointment formula recommended to us by the GPA negotiators, we have resolved that this matter be addressed simultaneously and concurrently with the sanctions removal strategy.” Zanu PF has vowed it will not allow MDC governors into office until sanctions imposed on Zanu-PF members and a general freeze on financial aid for Zimbabwe by the West are removed.

Zanu PF, in an apparent slap on SADC, this week rejected the 30day ultimatum to implement the pact, saying “there are no deadlines in politics.” MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said recently there was no concrete date when the 30 day timeline would start ticking, but said SADC was worried Zimbabwe was not complying with the pact and was determined to make sure that Harare sticks to the accord.

Zuma’s mediation team has so far not been in the country to check on what was happening on the ground. The team tabled a progress report at the SADC summit. The SADC summit claimed their meeting was going to put the Thabo Mbeki-brokered deal back on track and also formulate a monitoring mechanism that would ensure that both parties adhered to the GPA.