|
Back to Index
Abuses render politburo impotent
Pedzisai Ruhanya, The Independent (Zimbabwe)
May 27, 2011
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/local/31092-abuses-render-politburo-impotent.html
The once almighty
Zanu PF politburo, whose decisions and policies dominated and determined
the national political, economic and social psyche in the past 30
years of President Robert Mugabe's rule has become impotent.
This is because of the organisation's human rights abuses
which have resulted in the other national and supra national bodies
having a critical say in the affairs of the state. Zanu
PF's defeat in the 2008 elections, the formation of the
inclusive
government in 2009 after the signing of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) in September 2008 and the involvement
of Sadc and the AU in Zimbabwe's domestic affairs have resulted
in the erosion of Mugabe's grip on power and consequently
the ubiquitous roles of his party's central committee and
the politburo.
The role currently
being played by Sadc and South African President Jacob Zuma, the
facilitator to the Zimbabwean political dispute between the two
formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu
PF clearly showcase the impotence of the politburo. A close look
at the outcomes of the Livingstone
and Windhoek
Sadc meetings to address the Zimbabwean crisis also assist to confirm
this hypothesis.
Zanu PF is finding it difficult to impose elections
on Zimbabweans because of domestic and regional outcries that conditions
for holding elections are still absent. This case illustrates that
the communist-style politburo is now a shadow of its former self.
The outcome of the March 29 2008 harmonised elections
has ensured that business cannot be as usual in the administration
of national affairs. The era of politburo unilateralism is gone.
The outcome of taking that route is increased domestic, regional
and international isolation.
It is important to note that Zanu PF does not control
any urban council. It does not have a single mayor in all the towns
and cities of Zimbabwe. This was a historical development and it
was the harbinger of the erosion of the powers of the politburo.
That development makes a mockery of Zanu PF's claims of being
a party of the people.
Zanu PF's
demise was inevitable after years of inflicting human rights abuses
starting from the Matabeleland and Midlands massacres. Violence
characterised all elections from 1990 up to the June
2008 presidential run-off.
The consummation of the inclusive government in
January 2009 after the signing of the GPA meant that there were
now several centres of power in the country. While Mugabe's
executive powers remained largely intact there were now some checks
and balances. Cabinet, which had hitherto merely been an implementing
body of Zanu PF decisions in the days of Mugabe's one-party
rule, became a forum of power struggles between the two formations
of the MDC and Zanu PF respectively.
Cabinet as it stands can no longer rubber stamp
the decisions of the central committee and politburo because of
its composition. Added to this there is also the Council of Ministers
that is chaired by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. By virtue of
Tsvangirai chairing this body, it cannot be used to implement the
decisions of the politburo.
What this means is that government ministries and
departments - unlike in the past - implement national programmes
and not necessarily the decisions of Zanu PF.
It is at Cabinet level that the Zanu PF's
call for elections in 2011 hit a snag. They have to convince their
GNU partners that an election is the best way forward. Any unilateral
decision by Zanu PF will invite regional intervention which will
not support dictatorial tendencies in an era of inclusivity. The
position of the politburo is now treated in the same manner as the
positions of the national executives of the two formations of the
MDC. It is merely a position of a political party. The only difference
between the position of Zanu PF and those of the MDCs could be the
malign and egocentric nature of Zanu PF's call for elections
without attendant democratic reforms.
In the case of national security reforms, however,
the decisions of the politburo still stand because of the control
invested in the president's office by the current constitution.
This is coupled with the failure by the negotiators to the GPA to
clearly address the ubiquitous nature of the securocrats in Zimbabwean
politics especially their partisan behaviour.
Where the GPA sought to create a National Security
Council, the securocrats working in cahoots with Zanu PF have blatantly
refused to reform. The partisan Joint Operations Command (JOC) remains
intact and continues with its poisonous political activities. This
explains why democratic forces in Zimbabwe have identified the security
sector as a critical and last bastion of Zanu PF's abusive
rule that needs to be democratised before the holding of any election.
This would then facilitate a free electoral environment where the
security of citizens is protected and guaranteed.
Both Sadc and the AU are guarantors of the GPA.
Where there are disputes among the political players Sadc has to
mediate under the leadership of President Zuma. The decision of
the Sadc Troika on Defence and Security in Livingstone calling upon
the GNU to lay out a clear democratic road map to future elections
clearly shows that the calls by Zanu PF to have elections on its
own terms could be hallucinatory and suicidal.
It is important to note that the life of undemocratic
political structures such as the politburo cannot live in a world
that is increasingly fighting against evil and dictatorial political
structures and values. It is like attempting to solve 21st century
problems using a 20th century bureaucracy. Zanu PF should embrace
democratic reforms otherwise it risks being buried by the reform
winds blowing across Africa. There is no longer space for Communist-style
structures in this century.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
