Blooming Optimism
For a political figure struggling against desperate odds to find the strength and the courage to lead his country out of catastrophe, Morgan Tsvangirai, newly inducted into the vice-presidency of Zimbabwe, has mounted an amazingly optimistic initiative. This man has been intimidated, beaten, imprisoned, taunted and haunted, and has observed the same and worse being meted out to his supporters. He must be aware that without international support and observance, his very life would have been in danger.Even while negotiations were being finalized to agree at last to a shared administration between President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, in the wake of one failure to unite in government after another, supporters and members of the MDC were being intimidated, beaten, taken under arrest and tortured. Which wouldn't really bode well then, would it, for any real reconciliation?
A country torn by corrupt malfeasance, by police brutality, by a government unconcerned by its massive failures - where the population is facing starvation and struggling against a deadly disease outbreak - can descend no lower. Millions of Zimbabweans have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries where, though they will live in poverty and elicit resentment from the populations there, they are able to secure their lives.
Currently, there is no life, there is no future, there is little employment, scant provisions available in the country. The medical system has collapsed, it is incapable of treating people stricken with cholera; desperately-needed pharmaceuticals are unavailable, food remains scarce, and a huge proportion of the population is dependent on UN emergency aid to survive.
Western supporters of Mr. Tsvangirai are not hopeful about the prospects of success of a shared government. "Forget it!" chides Mr. Tsvangirai. "You are too paranoid about Mugabe", he claimed in an interview. Optimistic, despite the observations of onlookers from without the country: "This is not power-sharing, it's a power struggle. Someone is saying, 'We're still boss. This is our country, our state. We own it and we don't have to make concessions'."
And there is more than sufficient proof. A former white coffee farmer who lost his property to land seizure in 2003, was encouraged to return from South African exile, as a MDC supporter and official. Scheduled to be sworn in as deputy prime minister he was arrested by police to face charges of plotting to assassinate President Mugabe. And just as he was arrested President Mugabe presented at State House to swear in the Cabinet.
Except that some elements of the previous agreement had been altered. His list of
Zanu-PF ministers had mysteriously expanded. Many former ministers who had enriched themselves simply refused to step down. The 'new' Zanu-PF ministers present with their own records of corruption and brutality and they've no interest whatever in accommodating power-sharing.
To this reality Mr. Tsvangirai claims 'residual resistance', insisting on the reality of a "high degree of confidence building up" between himself and Mr. Mugabe. Zimbabwe's new spirit of shared governance between the two rival parties, he claims, is "irreversible". Clearly, he sees a new era in slow evolution, bringing the country back to prosperity and pride in itself.
"It is the duty and responsibility of every Zimbabwean to contribute to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country" said Mr. Tsvangirai. "This [new government] should inspire Zimbabweans to come home", from exile abroad. The country in its dire need, requires at least a hefty $100-million infusion from the West each month, to help it emerge from its current desperate plight.
In the current global economic climate, with so many countries in financial straits and the World Bank warning that its coffers are wearing thin, that will be a difficult claim to honour. All the more so if Robert Mugabe and his secret service, his army and his police remain on the scene to continue enriching themselves at the cost of their miserable countrymen.
Labels: Economy, Political Realities, World Crises
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, February 14, 2009
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