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'Let's give unity a chance' - Interview with Arthur Mutambara
Percy Zvomuya, Mail & Guardian (SA)
March 10-16, 2006

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=266501&area=/insight/insight__africa/

Why did you go back to Zimbabwe?
I was disappointed when the major opposition party got into a crisis. I decided it-s my civic duty to parti-cipate in the creation of political and economic solutions in my country.

I came to Zimbabwe to become a unifier, to provide a framework of reunification of all democratic forces fighting for change in the country. I felt that there was confusion and a lack of direction in the political party. My core business was to be part of the initiative of building a strong, democratic, electable political opposition party . . . that can get into government and create solutions for our economic problems.

Why now?
Because of the gravity of the economic crisis. History will never absolve us as Zimbabweans if we don-t step up to make a difference. I was a good follower for six years. Now I am saying that I can be part of the process of reunification.

How do you propose to unify Zimbabwe-s democratic forces?
We must recognise and respect each other. We must understand what unites us: the need to fight and defeat the Zanu-PF regime, the Zanu-PF culture. I do not have time to condemn and fight other soldiers. We will focus our eyes on the prize that is defeating the Zanu-PF culture, not [Robert] Mugabe. If Mugabe drops dead tomorrow there still will be a Zanu-PF culture. The Zanu-PF culture is pervasive in our society. The use of violence against opponents, violation of party constitutions, the failure to respect collective decision-making processes. You can-t afford to be undemocratic yourself if you are fighting an undemocratic regime.

Have you spoken to Morgan Tsvangirai about your vision?
I am a strong believer in giving unity a chance. Any discussions around unity should be protected so that they succeed. Let-s give it a chance.

What strategies do you have to take on the Zanu-PF government?
Let-s accept that there are elements of Zanu-PF in our organisations. The next step is how do we go about building a new culture and a new value system. We need a new people-driven democratic constitution. All the efforts will amount to nothing without a new constitution. We reserve the right to use any democratic and constitutional means to bring about change in Zimbabwe. Demonstrations, stayaways and boycotts, anything that is democratic.

The opposition has traditionally done well in the urban centres but has been unable to penetrate Zanu-PF-s rural strongholds. How will you bridge this?
We need to make sure that we are an African patriotic political party. We come to Zimbabwe in the tradition of the liberation war. We cherish and celebrate the Zipra, the Zanla, the Apla, MK fighters. We believe in the land revolution, land was the basis of our revolution. Our party should be credible to the villager. We are a party for the land. We are delinking ourselves from a legacy of puppetry.

You have been criticised as being out of touch with the experience of ordinary Zimbabweans. What is your comment?
The issues I am articulating right now: Are they out of touch? I went to Oxford and then to the United States to publish and research. My hope is that my exposure and my experience will make my contribution to Zimbabwe better.

What, in the short term, should be done to address food and fuel shortages and rampant unemployment?
We must own our own problems, not blame everyone except ourselves. Our problems are so huge we can-t go it alone. We need a holistic economic recovery programme that involves all stakeholders. You can-t say enemy number one is inflation and do a policy around inflation . . . that is a sign of myopic mindedness. Look at all the variables, interest rates, inflation, unemployment, exchange rate, agriculture, and build a multi-variable mathematical model that addresses and comes up with solutions. We need to have the unity debate finished . . . within the next few months and engage the NCA [National Constitutional Assembly] to push for a new constitution. The economic blueprint framework will be out in two weeks and the details of the blueprint must be done in six months.

Have you been in touch with any heads of state or political parties?
For now we don-t want to undermine our efforts. All these remain confidential.

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