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Mugabe rejects constitutional reform, buys more time
ZimOnline
October 30, 2006

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=362

HARARE – A church-authored national vision document could be the start of efforts to end Zimbabwe’s fast deteriorating crisis but analysts say it fell short of directly putting the blame on President Robert Mugabe’s government and questioned the veteran leader’s commitment to implementing its recommendations.

Mugabe on Friday accepted the church initiative to resolve the country’s problems, but more significantly rejected calls for a new constitution, which political experts say is vital to any effort to pluck the southern African nation out of political, social and economic crisis.

Analysts said while Mugabe had seemingly embraced the church document, this was a time-buying tactic by the veteran leader in the hope of riding out a crisis many put squarely on his 26-year-old rule. They added that the church’s National Vision document, like many before it, was likely to fall victim to government bureaucracy.

"Let’s not forget that Mugabe is a cunning politician who has in the past managed to hoodwink opponents that he is changing policies," Eldred Masunungure, chairman of the Political Science department at the University of Zimbabwe said.

"When you look at the document, yes it does raise important issues but at the same time it does not identify the major causes and where they originate from, such as mis-governance by the government," he added.

In a bold challenge to Mugabe's policies, the Church alliance is proposing the setting up of an independent land commission to ensure fair distribution of land, a new constitution and a review of tough media and security laws that critics say are being used to muzzle the opposition.

But Mugabe, eager not to give ground to opponents, said he was not convinced the country needed a new constitution and added that critics of the current constitution were wrong to think the country’s governance charter was imposed by former colonial power Britain.

"There could never be another constitution so dear, so sacrosanct. True there might be amendments necessary to make, let us say so, but to say this is not home-grown is as if the British imposed this on us," Mugabe said.

The 82-year old President generally treats calls for radical political reforms as part of a drive fronted by local opponents but sponsored by his Western enemies to oust him from power over his seizures and redistribution of white-owned farms to black Zimbabweans.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party did not attend Friday’s launch a move analysts said could mean the opposition did not accept the contents of the document.

The MDC has previously aligned itself with another group of church leaders, the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, comprising more radical church leaders who insist on human rights violations by the government and its agencies not being swept under the carpet and who also do not see Mugabe as part of the solution but part of the problem.

The opposition, which has been splintered over tactics to confront Mugabe, argues that a new constitution is paramount if the country is to hold free and fair elections and further argues that Mugabe has manipulated the national constitution to tighten his grip on power.

The analysts said the MDC’s absence from the church-led initiative was likely to see the document failing as the opposition party was one of the largest political forces in the country.

The MDC is the only opposition party that has come closest to unseating Mugabe from power and says it was denied victory in the 2000 and 2002 elections through violence and rigging by Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party.

"The fact that the main opposition is not part of the Church efforts could be a reflection that they do not have faith in the Church’s efforts and I would agree with that because Mugabe has shown in the past that he is not an honest and sincere negotiator," John Makumbe, a UZ political science lecturer said.

"The Church needs to confront Mugabe and tell him to shape up and tell him what the majority of Zimbabweans are saying; that we have lost confidence in your leadership. Otherwise we will not be able to resolve the problems we are facing today," added Makumbe, who is a strong critic of Mugabe’s rule.

Analysts said the opposition’s scepticism could be founded in Mugabe’s refusal in the past of several mediation efforts by local bishops, United Nations secretary General Kofi Annan and fellow African leaders saying they were influenced by the West.

"So the opposition will say what will make Mugabe negotiate this time around and that is point to take note of," Masunungure said.

Zimbabwe is grappling with an economic meltdown described by the World Bank as the worst outside a war zone. The crisis has manifested itself through the world’s highest inflation of more than 1 000 percent, skyrocketing unemployment, shortages of foreign currency, food, fuel and power, while poverty levels are soaring.

Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence from Britain, denies mismanaging the economy and instead accuses the West of sabotaging his government as punishment for his controversial drive to redistribute former white land to blacks. - ZimOnline

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