Zimbabwe soldiers want 25% of Parly seats

By Faith Zaba

The army is becoming increasingly involved in politics amid new information showing that retired soldiers are demanding significant representation in parliament, a proposal which top Zanu PF officials said would never be approved by the politburo. Top Zanu PF sources told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that the military wants 25% of elected seats in the House of Assembly and Senate to be reserved for retired soldiers.

The officials said such a proposal would not be approved by the politburo. They pointed out that Zanu PF’s top leadership was united in blocking the army from getting such a quota. One Zanu PF insider said: “The military wants 25% of all seats in the House of Assembly and in the Senate. We have been discussing the issue among ourselves in preparation for the extraordinary politburo meeting on elections to be held soon.”

The politburo was scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the rules and regulations for primary elections, but had to be postponed after President Robert Mugabe left for an African Union Summit in Equatorial Guinea. One source said: “The issue will now be discussed at the next (politburo) meeting where we are supposed to discuss and agree on the rules and regulations for primary elections. So far we are in agreement that we will not give them the 25%. If they want to contest, they should do that like everyone else. There is not going to be any imposition of candidates.

“They should do like other retired soldiers have done in the past when they decided to go into politics. You fight at primary elections and if you win then you fight it out with other candidates. It will not be given to them on a silver platter.” Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo last night could not comment on the matter saying he was in a meeting. In an earlier interview this year, Gumbo said the party would not tolerate imposition of candidates. During the 2008 elections Zanu PF was defeated by the MDC-T partly due to imposition of candidates.

Tension has been growing between the military and the party top leadership after army generals indicated that they wanted Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Constantine Chiwenga to take over from the ageing Mugabe, who is battling with ill-health. A group of generals in the army disgruntled by Zanu PF’s failure to resolve the succession issue have said they want Chiwenga to retire from the army and enter the fight to succeed Mugabe.

One retired general who sits in the politburo dismissed talk that Chiwenga could succeed Mugabe. The politburo heavyweight said: “Zviroto (he is dreaming), it is like you waking up one morning and saying you are going to be the next president — president of which country and as whom..? “We know what their (army) plan is. They want to make sure that they have enough numbers to help them if the Electoral College sits to choose Mugabe’s successor. Zimbabwe Independent