Zim govt trying to hold on
2009-09-15 08:35
Special Report
Chinese vice premier Wang Yang has urged Zimbabwe to ensure peace and political stability ahead of elections this year.
Harare - When Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing deal with his archrival Morgan Tsvangirai, a year ago, the pact was hailed as a breakthrough to stem political unrest and an economic meltdown.
Twelve months later, the economy's seemingly endless atrophy has halted. Abandoning the local currency, left worthless after years of hyperinflation, has brought a semblance of normality to once-bare store shelves, easing chronic food shortages.
But ongoing feuding over key government posts has exposed the deal's fragility, raising fears over whether the unity government is a solution to the nation's problems or just a lull.
Both men freely express their reservations about their awkward coalition.
"This is the situation we should and could have avoided," Mugabe told his party's youth wing on Friday, calling for "careful, measured steps as we nurse this new pattern of government."
"And, as we co-exist in this arrangement, we should not underestimate the need to re-examine ourselves both as a party and leadership," he added.
Rebuilding
Tsvangirai says he only agreed to the unity pact to halt the crushing hardships that Zimbabweans faced last year, as food supplies disappeared and broken sewers sparked a cholera epidemic that killed 4 200 people in just 12 months.
"We believed if this government can work, it can bring better lives and you can begin to rebuild your life," he told his supporters at a rally on Sunday.
"That (government) is not real change. It is a temporary, transitional process toward real change."
After the deal was signed on September 15 2008, it took another five months to install the unity government, after a bitter brawl over who would control the most powerful posts.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won control of the finance ministry, but Mugabe's Zanu-PF still has a firm grip on the security forces, state media and the justice ministry.
Dysfunctional arrangement
"It's a flawed arrangement, a dysfunctional arrangement, where it's Zanu-PF trying to maintain its stranglehold on power," said Sydney Masamvu, researcher with the International Crisis Group.
"This arrangement is not one where we are going to be delivering everything. It's an ad hoc arrangement," he said.
The rivals have yet to agree on key appointments like the central bank governor and the attorney general, prompting Tsvangirai to ask regional leaders to again intervene to mediate a solution.
Key provisions of the power-sharing deal, like creating a new security council to control the armed forces, have hardly been implemented.
And efforts to draft a new constitution, required by the accord to pave the way to fresh elections, have become bogged down in disputes over money and political jeering.
A landmark European Union visit at the weekend was accused of trying to undermine the unity pact, with key Mugabe ally Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa telling state media on Monday that the team had sided with the MDC.
"They just swallow line, hook and sinker what the (MDC) says," Chinamasa after the bloc's first visit to Harare in seven years following efforts by Tsvangirai to normalise ties with key donors.
Power is divided
"Power is not shared, but divided," said political analyst Eldred Masunungure. "Moreover, the distribution of power is unequal, with the balance tilted in favour of the previous regime."
Despite its many problems, Masunungure said, the unity government has brought desperately needed relief to a nation of 94% unemployment and chronic food shortages.
"The biggest achievement of the transition so far is that people hope that it can deliver a better and brighter future," Masunungure said.
But if the unity government fails to bring tangible benefits, the public's goodwill could run out, he added.
"If these expectations are not met, the public reaction is unknown."
- AFP
