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MDC dismisses Zanu PF's midnight ambush
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
October 11, 2008

The MDC dismisses the Zanu PF's unilaterally gazetted wish list of ministries, which is a betrayal of the wishes, expectations and aspirations of the majority of Zimbabweans.

The Herald-published list of ministries is a product of unilateral, contemptuous and outrageous machinations by Zanu PF. In fact, it is a giant act of madness which puts the whole deal into jeopardy. Zanu PF cannot nocturnally allocate ministries barely hours after the three principals agreed to disagree by referring the matter to the mediator after a logjam over all key ministries.

Zanu PF's ploy is to pre-empt the visit of the mediator and any attempt by SADC to try and help Zimbabweans locate exit points to the current impasse.

For the past week, Zanu PF has been performing its usual propaganda rituals to lull the nation into believing that there was progress. The idea was to manage and prepare the nation for this barbaric ambush.

The MDC did not append its signature to a Zanu PF power-grabbing deal but to a power sharing deal. The people of Zimbabwe are aware that we entered into dialogue with a sincere desire to resolve the national crisis. This brazen power-grab as reflected in the gazetted ministries cannot in any way be a result of a genuine power-sharing agreement. Zanu PF has waylaid and mugged the people's desire to see a new government put in place which would solve the endemic problems of starvation, clean water, housing, better health care and education.

The elite in Zanu PF is not interested in addressing the current challenges in the country. Instead, they are obsessed with power retention at all costs.

We reject the attempt by Zanu PF to get the MDC into office but without power. We derive our legitimacy and mandate from the people of Zimbabwe, not Zanu PF who were rejected by the very same people on 29 March. It is ridiculous that after having lost the election, Zanu PF, the loser, proceeds to allocate peripheral ministries to the MDC, the winner. This act of perfidy is a negation of the spirit of rapproachment and good will that should characterize any meaningful power-sharing arrangement.

The MDC believes that Mr Mugabe, who lost the election on 29 March, cannot arrogate upon himself the right to unilaterally allocate ministries outside the framework of the dialogue process.

We condemn Zanu PF's undermining of efforts by SADC and the African Union in trying to resolve the challenges confronting our country.

All good Zimbabweans have a duty to stand up and be counted in defending that which is good about our country and stop the Zanu PF madness.

In light of the latest developments, the MDC calls on the mediator, SADC, the AU and the international community at large to help support and protect Zimbabweans against the run-away and galloping power appetite of the minority Zanu PF leadership.

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