Only last month, the regional bloc SADC had to step in to urge the
coalition partners to close ranks on the election roadmap stalemate to
lower political temperatures.
Although the President's Zanu (PF) ministers last week withdrew
controversial threats to take the licenses of foreign firms refusing
to comply with President Mugabe's empowerment policy, analysts believe the political battles are likely to
intensify.
Opinion polls show that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the
MDC, is still the favourite for the top job.
Political analysts say the past three years have been relatively calm, but that times ahead could potentially be difficult because of implementation of the
new Constitution.
"This comes at a time the electoral cycle has just kicked off, and the
two principals have been forced to go their different ways because of
political considerations,” says political commentator, Ronald Shumba.
“The ceasefire observed this week when the Zanu (PF) minister
responsible for empowerment withdrew threats to cancel licenses for
foreign firms will be short-lived. It is a lull before the storm.
There is real heat ahead.”
No justice
The GNU has shrugged off calls to indict individuals implicated in the
2008 post-election violence that claimed 500 lives, according to the
MDC and rights groups. This has raised the stakes on an issue that has
split the coalition government. A troika of elderly ministers from the
three parties in the coalition has pathetically failed to deal with
issues of transitional justice.
The GNU has set up a Human Rights Commission, and this week opened
offices for the commission along Samora Machel Avenue in the city
centre.
However, the commission cannot do its work because it lacks
legal teeth.
Mugabe has publicly called for tolerance and peace, appealing to his
party faithful to keep the peace between his Zanu (PF) and Tsvangirai's
MDC.
But critics and rights activists say pro-Mugabe veterans of Zimbabwe's
1970s independence war and Zanu (PF) youth brigades have escalated a
crackdown on MDC structures countrywide.
Speaking at his party's 12th anniversary in Harare last weekend,
Tsvangirai paid tribute to the politicians who negotiated the GPA pact
in 2008, pointedly the two MDC officials Elton Mangoma and Tendai
Biti. Tsvangirai has demanded the implementation of the new Constitution
before the next poll.
“Anyone expecting a quick fix to problems facing the coalition is up
for a shock. So long as 2012 elections are hanging above our heads,
problems and disagreements will persist.”
McDonald Lewanika of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said.
"We Zimbabweans are to blame, because we are not registering our
discontent with the status quo."
GPA fissures
As the ruling coalition parties wrangle, there is widespread
apprehension that the window for enacting reforms is fast closing. While the GPA has lasted three
years, the failure to fully implement the pact shows that fissures and
frictions are still intact.
"We politicians have to tone down the bickering," said a Zanu (PF) MP
who declined to be named saying he didn’t have approval to speak to the
Press. "We are at a fragile state and at times I think politicians
have forgotten the horrific events of 2008
Shumba says politicians should tone down the political rhetoric and
channel their efforts to implementing the Constitution.
“The priority now is not competition for power through elections, but
implementing the Constitution to moderate management of power.
Implementation cannot wait,” he said.
Post published in: News