By Tafadzwa Mutasa
HARARE – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday dropped ministers from his party and reshuffled others in the Cabinet at a time of reported divisions in the MDC but analysts said the move could help strengthen the party leader ahead of future elections.
Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government with Mugabe last year in February axed four ministers and deputies and re-assigned several others, saying this would help his party to perform better in the unity government while at the same time reshape the party.
“The decision to reshuffle was triggered by multiple considerations, first to strengthen the MDC leader himself in the party and government and at another level to strengthen the MDC as a party as we march towards elections,” Eldred Masunungure, a leading political commentator said.
“I don’t think we can pick any single factor for this. We are in an era of competitive politics and you need to strengthen yourself as a leader and for elections when they do come,” Masunungure said.
The fragile coalition has managed to halt a catastrophic economic decline hyper-inflation but political reforms have been frustratingly slow, and Tsvangirai admitted yesterday that abuses of power by ZANU PF continued while millions of Zimbabweans still struggled to make a living.
The government, unable of to attract massive foreign investment and Western aid to reconstruct the ruined economy, is battling to repair dilapidated infrastructure and to provide power, which is critical to economic recovery.
Analysts said Tsvangirai’s MDC has been weakening since it joined the unity administration and that the redeployment of national organizer Elias Mudzuri, youth leader Thamsanqa Mahlangu, women’s affairs deputy leader Evelyn Masaiti and veteran politician Fidelis Mhashu could just help reorganize the party.
State media has led a chorus of reports that MDC secretary general and finance minister Tendai Biti, MDC’s second most powerful man, was leading a bloc of officials opposed to Tsvangirai’s policies and that the party that has come closest to unseating Mugabe was fracturing.
“This was a tactical decision by Tsvangirai in that he has realized the party needs reorganization ahead of elections and these people will lead that process,” John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe senior political science lecturer and critic of Mugabe’s policies said.
Masunungure added: “The decision to deploy the national organizer of the party in the government was wrong in the first place. The MDC has been wobbling since the formation of the unity government, it has been at its weakest.
“I think the secretary general (Biti) should have remained at the party as well. You do not deploy your best brains in a coalition when your position in the government is shaky. You need organizers in the party and not in government,” said Masunungure.
Zimbabwe this week started a process to write a new constitution amid chaos to replace the one drafted in 1979 before independence from Britain, and which many hope will strengthen parliament, curtail the president’s powers and guarantee civil, political and media reforms.
Tsvangirai has been under pressure to assert himself and stand up to Mugabe. The two are feuding over the appointment of Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister even after the former white commercial farmer was acquitted by the High Court on terrorism charges.
The appointment of Bennett, a former white commercial farmer and MDC treasurer-general, is one of several issues that have been a source of friction in the unity government. There were questions on the re-assignment of Theresa Makone to the home affairs ministry, a contested portfolio which the MDC shares with ZANU PF.
The MDC is frustrated by the failure to reform the police force as well as other security arms of government, which they see as critical to free and fair elections in future. The security apparatus has helped Mugabe hold onto power since 1980. – ZimOnline
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