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Secrecy surrounding power-sharing deal of major concern
Extracted from Media Update 27/2008
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
September 19, 2008

MMPZ expresses its concern that details of the "historic" power-sharing agreement struck between ZANU PF and the MDC on September 11th, were withheld from the public until after the formal signing ceremony the following Monday.

From the outset, the negotiators, principally the chief negotiator in the talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki, defended a news blackout on the progress of the negotiations on the basis that conducting the talks in the public glare would compromise their success.

However, this argument did not resonate with ordinary Zimbabweans, particularly civic society, which objected to their exclusion amid warnings of an elite deal that would not address or reflect the concerns and aspirations of the population.

A previous agreement in the form of the controversial 1987 Unity Accord between the then PF ZAPU and ZANU PF, signed by the respective political leadership reportedly without contribution from their supporters, was aptly used as an example. Already, the National Constitutional Assembly and the country's biggest labour body, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Trade Unions, have criticised the deal on the grounds that it is not representative.

MMPZ condemns this culture of secrecy and exclusion, which has deliberately denied Zimbabweans a platform to debate and chart their own destiny. Seeking their approval of the deal in retrospect, as reported in The Herald (18/9) reflects the arrogance and contempt that the country's political leadership has held for Zimbabweans for too long.

The official daily reported President Mugabe telling "political leaders" during his party's Central Committee meeting to "acquaint" themselves with the power-sharing agreement and "explain it to the people to ensure its success" since it "hinged on the support it gets from the grassroots".

It quoted Mugabe saying: "It is the responsibility of . . . the leadership to explain the contents and meaning of the agreement to all our people . . . There are people who are yearning to understand how it is going to work now that our opponents yesterday are now our partners today."

MMPZ hopes that the proposed constitutional reform process, to be undertaken in the 18 months following the inauguration of the new, inclusive government, will not be another exercise in retrospective approval. Otherwise, it risks being rejected - just like the 2000 draft constitution - by an increasingly cynical population whose patience with a conceited political leadership is running thin.

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