Last Updated: Wednesday, 20 August 2003
MDC fails to break-off colonial chains
Herald Reporter
THE opposition MDC has failed to break-off its colonial chains by refusing to heed last week’s call by President Mugabe to repent from its sins and join hands with the rest of Zimbabwe in nation-building.
The opposition party failed to see the opportunity it had been granted to make a clean start as a genuine Zimbabwean political party with roots in this country instead of being directed from the United States, Britain, Australia, among other former imperialist countries.
Although the MDC is now clamouring for dialogue with the ruling Zanu-PF Government after running out of strategies to gain political power outside of elections, the opposition party is still clinging to its colonial masters who have, ironically started to walk away from the beleaguered party.
Instead of viewing President Mugabe’s speech at the Heroes’ Acre last week as an opportunity to pronounce themselves as a party committed to Zimbabwe’s sovereignty, values and independence, the MDC reacted emotionally and exposed its serious lack of political sophistry.
For the past three years since its formation, the MDC has not made a secret of its being an extension of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government with its policies being largely directed from London.
Before the opposition leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, had even presented his papers as a candidate for Zimbabwe’s presidential elections, he was already being welcomed in London and Washington, among other Western capitals as the next president of Zimbabwe.
His entire campaign was finding expression in most Western media, which touted him as the greatest challenge to President Mugabe’s rule.
He went on to openly embrace the United States’ Zimbabwe Democracy Act aimed at imposing unilateral sanctions against Zimbabwe that was followed by similar sanctions by the European Union and other white Commonwealth countries.
In Britain, the MDC embedded itself with the entire political, economic and media establishment to fight against the ruling Zanu-PF government as well actively supported punitive measures meant to bring President Mugabe’s Government down by killing the country’s economy.
The opposition party found no shame in being identified with the Westminster Foundation, Zimbabwe Democracy Trust and other organisations that sought to preserve white colonial interests in Zimbabwe at the expense of the majority black Zimbabweans.
The Westmin-ster Foundation even published its financial assistance to the MDC on its website while the British Ambas-sador to Zimba-bwe, Mr Brian Donnelly later admitted that his government was providing assistance to the MDC.
In a classical example of political immaturity, the MDC reacted angrily to President Mugabe’s call that "those who would go together with our enemies abroad cannot at the same time want to march alongside us as our partner."
The President did not shut the door on the opposition but encouraged them to come clean. "There is room for them to repent, to say we were wrong yesterday and would not be wrong again today and tomorrow. There cannot be unity with the enemies of the people."
The opposition party has instead stepped up the tempo for talks hoping for a political settlement that could guarantee the party’s stay in active politics beyond the 2005 general polls.
The desperation within the ranks of the opposition has reached new heights as the party has run-out of strategies to gain political power since its formation just before the 2000 parliamentary elections.
Against all expectations that the opposition party was not going to be allowed into Parlia-ment, the new opposition backbenchers were not hindered from assuming their new legislative role as the country’s official opposition.
Although this presented a magnificent opportunity for the MDC to join hands with the ruling party to close the chapter of serious political polarisation, violence and intolerance that characterised the period leading to the general elections, the opposition party chose to be confrontational with its first official business in the august House being an impeachment motion against President Mugabe, which they hoped would depose him from power.
Instead of being constructive in its criticism of Government policies, the MDC saw its role in Parliament as that of a liberation movement seeking to depose the government of the day and refused to engage in any constructive debate on legislative matters.
The MDC MPs continued to behave in the most untoward manner towards the establishment showing absolute contempt for all the institutions of governance including the police, army, courts, and others.
With the financial and material support from the United States, Great Britain, most European and white Common-wealth countries, the MDC mounted one of the most vicious campaigns against the Zanu-PF Government, which found resonance in most capitals of the world.
The campaign resulted in a myriad of measures being taken against the Government with the sole aim of creating scenarios conducive enough for an ouster of President Mugabe
However, despite all this negative propaganda President Mugabe emerged as the winner of the 2002 presidential election beating Mr Tsvangirai whom the West had touted as the automatic next president of Zimbabwe.
Stung by President Mugabe's victory, Britain, the US and Australia declared that the election was not free and fair.
They concluded that President Mugabe was illegitimate despite the fact that most observer groups had declared the election free and fair.
The subsequent behaviour and action taken by the MDC soon after the announcement of the presidential election results clearly showed that it was party whose heart and soul was not homegrown.
In a typical fashion of a puppet, the MDC started mimicking the same language of their Western backers.
In order to appease the same Western nations who had poured millions of dollars into the opposition party's coffers, the MDC filed a petition in the High Court seeking to nullify the Presidential election outcome.
Impatience soon engulfed the opposition party's financial backers who pushed the MDC to mobilise for a national uprising to push President Mugabe from power.
This culminated in what the opposition party dubbed the "final push," which was ignored by Zimbabweans.
After analysing the litany of actions and utterances made by Mr Tsvangirai in support of the British and the US, it becomes even difficult for the most ardent MDC supporter to shake off the opposition party's identity as a Western proxy.
Is it coincidence that the so-called stayaways and mass action organised by the MDC were timed in such a way as to coincide with major European international gatherings?
The motive was clear the party wanted to attract the sympathy and attention of those Western nations so that pressure would be exerted against the Government and President Mugabe to step down.
The MDC has since its formation displayed a rather indignant attitude towards African leaders preferring instead to forge alliances with Western nations, former rebel movements like Renamo and the Democratic Alliance Party of South Africa.
The MDC leader even went to the extent of insulting South African President Thabo Mbeki by accusing him of harbouring "imperialist motives and being mischievous" when he told visiting US President Bush that the ruling Zanu-PF and MDC were engaged in some talks.
Mr Tsvangirai soon realised that he had misfired when President Bush announced that President Mbeki was best placed to mediate in Zimbabwe.
President Bush’s endorsement of President Mbeki subsequently forced the MDC to embrace a softy approach and soon announced that it was no longer challenging President Mugabe's legitimacy and started clamouring for dialogue with Zanu-PF.
It was therefore befitting for President Mugabe to urge the MDC to repent and acknowledge that it was wrong before engaging in any dialogue.
But President Mugabe is not the only one who has called upon the MDC to renounce its puppetry tag.
A recent study by the Africa Institute of South Africa concluded that most African leaders view the MDC as a Western creation whose existence is primarily to rollback the map of liberation in Africa.
The institute researcher, Che Ajulu, said that concern by foreign powers to topple governments in areas of strategic importance, coupled with Western backing for the MDC strengthened solidarity among southern African leaders.
"Mugabe played a major role in the liberation of South Africa and supporting other liberation movements on the continent, and that has not been forgotten. The fact that the MDC is supported by foreign powers also plays a major role because it's a threat to most of the liberation movements in the region," Mr Ajulu told the Sunday Times of South Africa.
No one in his sane mind would engage in some sort of dialogue with a party, which is a threat to the liberation movements in the region.
The MDC's attempts to forge alliances with the Democratic Alliance and Mozambique's Renamo had set alarm bells ringing around the region.
So the ball is in MDC's court to prove that it’s a credible opposition party before any constructive engagement with the ruling Zanu-PF.
Mitayo Potosi
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