Mugabe can’t unilaterally call for elections

Opinion — By Esther Gomo on February 7, 2011 2:04 pm

By Dewa Mavhinga

On Sunday 23 J a n u a r y , President Mugabe made the following astounding declaration: “ I have the constitutional right – in the absence of the GPA (Global Political Agreement) position regarding the constitutional process – to cause an election to be held on the basis of the old constitution.”

This statement is as incorrect as it is politically dangerous. It is an undisputed fact, which even ZANUPF agrees to, that the June 2008 presidential runoff election did not produce a legitimate result, despite Mugabe’s rush to be sworn in as president of Zimbabwe after that poll.

This is why Mugabe could not form a government on his own – hence the SADC mediated talks with the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai to form a powersharing government. If Mugabe had genuinely won the election there would have been no need for any negotiations to ‘share power.’

The idea was to bring on board MDC – the party commanding popular support in Zimbabwe but lacking support from the security chiefs who stood by Mugabe, threatening to plunge Zimbabwe into civil war.

What this shows clearly is that there is no legitimate government that exists outside the framework of the GPA – the SADC brokered agreement that led to the formation of a power-sharing government with Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai prime minister.

There is no old constitution that Mugabe can go to outside of the current constitution as amended to include the GPA political dispensation, which is schedule 8 of the constitution. Once the power-sharing government collapses then there is no government to talk about, or a president with any legitimacy for that matter.

However, president Mugabe’s utterances are a worrying indicator of frenzied electioneering and a dangerous political route which ZANU-PF may take if unchallenged. Zimbabwe at this point needs adequate preparations for credible elections that can be a solid foundation for lasting peace, political stability and development.

SADC and the AU should be supporting initiatives for democratic elections in Zimbabwe as a conflict anticipation and prevention mechanism. In preparation for a transparent plebiscite in which Zimbabweans can genuinely and freely express their will, key issues to be addressed include the demilitarization of Zimbabwe’s politics.

Sadly, we have it on good authority that ZANU-PF recently made a resolution to reserve at least 25% of all parliamentary seats for serving and retired military personnel, and that Vice-Air Marshall Henry Muchena is now working fulltime as director of ZANU-PF’s elections campaign.

The proximity of Zimbabwe’s securocrats to politics and civilian affairs is of great concern and does not augre well for democracy. The military must immediately and completely separate itself from politics and the day to day governance matters of the country.

Once this total separation is achieved it will be possible to create a conducive environment to holding free and fair elections. The military belong in the barracks – not in politics. Zimbabwe is a strange country – perhaps the only country where all senior military figures are known by name and rank to almost everyone – they are ubiquitous in national affairs.

In other countries naming the military commander would make the most difficult of quiz questions. As a people, we have a huge challenge, one now put in perspective by events in Egypt and Tunisia, a challenge to stop authoritarianism through a determined fight to promote democracy and respect for basic rights.

On that note, let me close with an african proverb quote: “Rabbit, rabbit what are you doing? I am going out to kill the elephant. Rabbit, rabbit can you really do that? Well, I will try… and try again.”

Dewa Mavhinga is the Regional Coordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. Feedback can be sent to coordinator@crisiszimbabwe.org

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