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Zimbabwean parties agree on Constitutional Amendment, but . . .
Raymond Maingire, The Zimbabwe Times
November 28, 2008

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news281108/zimconst281108.htm

Negotiators representing the three main political parties in Zimbabwe on Thursday signed a draft amendment to the constitution, but the Tsvangirai led MDC say obstacles to implementing a government of national unity still remain.

If the draft Constitutional Amendment no.19 is endorsed by the parties' leadership, it will then be sent to parliament and, if passed, will pave the way for the implementation of the power-sharing agreement and define the role of Prime Minister and the two Deputies.

However the draft amendment has not been made public by the parties, so it is not yet known what sort of compromises have been made as the Tsvangirai MDC had earlier claimed the draft was sent to Mbeki by ZANU PF, who compiled it without consulting the MDC. The party had said it was taking its own draft to the mediation.

This latest development has left many people saying it raises more questions than answers, especially as it had been reported MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had said recently he was not going to continue with the talks, until former South African President Thabo Mbeki is removed as facilitator.

Tsvangirai is appealing to SADC to recuse the facilitator, accusing him of bias towards the Mugabe regime, and he has Mbeki's recent letter to prove this. On the other hand Mbeki accuses Tsvangirai of inconsistency and flip flopping on issues he had committed himself to, namely the co-sharing of the disputed Home Affairs ministry.

The MDC has been under attack from critics over the issue of changing goalposts. Only last Wednesday Tendai Biti, the party's Secretary General, wrote a letter to Mbeki threatening to boycott the negotiations over the draft amendment.

Biti wrote: "Given the fact that the SADC resolution is a nullity and has not been rescinded, it is then difficult for any of the parties to move in any direction for fear of legitimising the SADC Summit "ruling". It means then that the negotiators cannot meet and work on the draft of Constitutional Amendment No 19." But the party went to South Africa this week and participated in the talks that led to all three parties agreeing to the Bill.

Confusion still remains over the status of the talks and on what happens next, as there are a number of unresolved issues that need to be settled before a government of national unity can be implemented. The MDC says these include the sharing of key cabinet posts and the appointment of senior government positions and provincial governors.

However ZANU PF insists there is only the outstanding issue of the Home Affairs Ministry, saying the issue of governors and other senior government positions can be decided once a government has been formed. A recent SADC summit recommended the co-sharing of the Home Affairs ministry, which is now being rejected by the Tsvangirai MDC.

However, replying to Biti's letter Mbeki said Morgan Tsvangirai had agreed to the co-sharing of the Home Affairs Ministry. He wrote: "You will remember your own insistence that in the context of the agreement that there should be two ministers of home affairs, these should serve in rotation, with the MDC (T) appointee taking the first slot. You affirmed that if this were to be agreed, it would mark the conclusion of the negotiations about the distribution of the ministerial portfolios, and therefore enable the establishment of the Zimbabwe Inclusive Government, with your endorsement and support."

In his 10 page response to Tsvangirai, the former South African leader used rhetoric similar to that of ZANU PF when he said: "It may be that, for whatever reason, you consider our region and continent as being of little consequence to the future of Zimbabwe, believing that others further away, in Western Europe and North America, are of greater importance."

Analysts say this is proof that Mbeki is biased and simply reinforces the notion that he is unfit - both in terms of his treatment of the MDC and also in terms of his narrow minded approach to the Zimbabwean crisis.

Critics say the delaying tactics and complex negotiations are a smokescreen created by ZANU PF to distract from the real issues - the humanitarian and economic crisis. They accuse Mbeki of pressuring the wrong person - Morgan Tsvangirai.

Piers Pigou, the Director of the South African History Archives, says the tremendous amount of confusion has been a characteristic which has permeated these talks. "The experience to date is that we have to be extremely cautious of ZANU PF's willingness to engage in this process and to meaningfully affect change. And we have to be extremely cautious about the MDC's capacity to actually push this agenda as well. We shouldn't delude ourselves that this is somehow some kind of panacea for a sustainable solution in Zimbabwe."

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