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Tsvangirai frustrated, says polls next year
Basildon Peta, Basildon Peta, ZimOnline
May 28, 2010

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=6070

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday it was now clear that ZANU PF never had the intentions to honour its commitments in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which ushered the coalition government last year.

Tsvangirai shared his continuing frustrations in his "marriage of convenience" with President Robert Mugabe at a packed meeting of regional civic society activists in Pretoria yesterday.

Despite the frustrations, he nevertheless defended the coalition arrangement as a strategic necessity.

"Being a partner in this marriage of convenience has been a painful experience but a strategic necessity that will enable us to reach our destination albeit uncomfortably," he told the meeting organised by the Southern African Liason Office, regional NGO dealing with social issues.

Tsvangirai said it was now abundantly clear that Mugabe's ZANU PF never intended to implement much of what it signed up to in the GPA.

"Being in government with a partner who does not respect the very agreement which they signed up to as a basis for that partnership is a challenge, to put it mildly," said Tsvangirai.

The Prime Minister cited Mugabe's appointment last week of five new judges, including a judge president, without consulting him as a clear sign that Mugabe paid scant regard to the GPA.

He said there was a section of the bureaucracy that continued to resist any changes to the status quo and a "security establishment leadership that no longer feels safe in the unfolding new political dispensation".

"Whether it is resistance to implement agreed democratic reforms, or the looting and misuse of state funds and resources, or the lack of respect for the rule of law and the constitution, or simply the ruthless determination to retain power or usurp power at all costs and by whatever means . . . all of this shows how fragile this marriage is and how fragile the transition process is in Zimbabwe," he said.

But fortunately, Tsvangirai said, the one thing he and Mugabe agreed upon was the holding of fresh elections next year to give effect to the will of the people.

It was therefore important to embark on a road map to those elections without a return to violence and to ensure that they are free and fair and the people's will is respected. It was possible to achieve free and fair elections with the support of the region.

He cited a few examples to point to the direction of the possibility of free and fair elections. These were the constitutional reform process, that had been delayed but was now underway, the reform of the electoral system and this week's decision by authorities to licence five new newspapers including the popular and banned Daily News that is now set to hit the streets.

He said his party's tenure in the new coalition had been a steep learning curve and admitted to making mistakes.

"We (the MDC) have had to learn the difficult business of government and the messy business of coalition politics at the same time . . . " he said. "We have made mistakes and I am the first to acknowledge these and to commit to learning from these mistakes."

He said his party has at times been too caught in its own problems and thereby "distanced ourselves from our traditional partners and our allies. That is a mistake".

"At times, too, we have been so distracted by the daily battles we fight in government that we have lost some of the focus on the clear principles for which we were elected. That is a grave mistake."

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