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Zimbabwe opposition group must demand more
David Blair
April 30, 2007

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/davidblair/apr2007/zimbabwe.htm?cmd=thanks#comments

It takes great courage to stand up to President Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe. I recently met Useni Sibanda, coordinator of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, who was present when Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, and his colleagues were brutally beaten in Harare in March.

Sibanda is part of a new umbrella grouping called the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Their key demand is for a new constitution and the repeal of repressive laws so as to allow a free and fair election in Zimbabwe next year. "Without a new constitution, it would be very foolish to contest those elections. Unless there’s significant electoral reform, the result would be disputed," said Sibanda.

But you might be surprised to learn that the Save Zimbabwe Campaign is not demanding Mugabe’s removal. "Mugabe as an individual is not the problem," said Sibanda. "It’s the whole system that is the problem."

I asked whether he thought change was possible if Mugabe remains in place. Sibanda told me that it was, largely because of pressure from other leaders in southern Africa, notably President Thabo Mbeki.

I hope Sibanda and his colleagues do not really believe this. If they are vesting everything in idea that Mugabe’s African colleagues are going to bring significant pressure to bear, I fear they will be disappointed. I trust that Sibanda does not really believe that the kind of fundamental change which Zimbabwe so desperately needs is possible if Mugabe remains in power. The man who built a repressive system is unlikely to be the man who dismantles it.

The opposition’s key demand is for a new constitution to be in place before the elections happen in March 2008 – a very ambitious timetable to say the least. I asked Sibanda how and by whom the new constitution should be drafted. He said he was open to suggestions. The Save Zimbabwe Campaign has apparently forgotten to consider these questions.

Zimbabwe’s opposition has always been crippled by disunity and lack of resolve. I’m afraid those problems remain. As long as they confine their demands to a new constitution (without having the slightest idea of how this should be drawn up) they do not deserve to be taken seriously. Everyone knows that Zimbabwe will never recover until Mugabe goes. Is it asking too much for a group calling itself the "Save Zimbabwe Campaign" to acknowledge as much?

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