Scepticism persists over full GPA implementation
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 15 July 2011 08:17
Paidamoyo Muzulu
WHEN negotiators dutifully announced that the coalition government partners
had struck a deal on the timeframe leading to fresh elections as agreed
under the GPA, the nation must have reacted with general scepticism.
In the 30 months that Zanu PF and the two MDC formations have been working
together, the only part of the GPA the three parties have fully implemented
is legalising their stay in office.
None of the 21 out of the 27 outstanding issues has seen the light of day.
Among the outstanding issues are the constitutional reforms, media reforms,
electoral reforms, security sector reforms, land audit, and repeal or
amendment of Aippa and Posa.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara wrote a letter to the Sadc-appointed
facilitator and South African President Jacob Zuma on August 5, 2010
appraising him on the GPA process, which included implementation timeframes
for outstanding issues that had supposedly been thrashed out.
According to Mutambara’s correspondence, the three principals reviewed the
implementation matrix for agreed GPA issues at a meeting on June 8, 2010.
Among the issues the principals agreed to implement within a month from
August 4, 2010 are media reforms which call for regularisation of the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe board, appointment of a new ZBC board and
constituting the Media Trust.
It was also agreed that Jomic and a Cabinet Re-engagement Committee would
deal with the external radio stations issue by appealing to foreign
governments hosting them to shut them down.
A Land Audit Commission should have been set up within a month while a land
Tenure System guaranteeing security of tenure and collateral value of land
should have been done within two months.
The issue of ministerial mandates dealing with the assignment of Acts,
establishment of the National Economic Council and national heroes should
all have been resolved by the end of September 2010.
Constitutional commissions to expedite the regularisation of the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission and appointment of the Anti-Corruption Commission
were to have been implemented immediately according to the letter Mutambara
wrote to Zuma.
Amendments to the Electoral Act should also have been completed as their
timeframe was agreed as immediate.
However, not a single agreed issue and timeframes forwarded to Zuma has been
implemented.
The Livingstone Sadc Troika in March gave the negotiators a fresh impetus to
return to the negotiating table and thrash out GPA implementation
timeframes.
With the assistance of Zuma’s facilitation team, the negotiators resumed
their talks and cobbled up a timeframe leading to fresh elections.
However, the tired negotiators’ roadmap still has to be endorsed by the
three principals, further eroding any hopes of it being done this year.
Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe chairman Jonah Gokova was sceptical of the
coalition partners’ sincerity in implementing the agreement.
“Our experience with the GPA negotiations has shown that Zanu PF has no
qualms with giving in to certain concessions but dithers on implementation,”
said Gokova. “We can celebrate the agreement, but we should expect problems
in the implementation. We should find ways to manage Zanu PF from dragging
its feet to make sure things happen.”
Gokova warned that there were elements “against full implementation of the
GPA” and it was incumbent upon Zimbabweans to find ways to manage them.
Gokova’s comments come in the wake of recent statements by senior security
officers denigrating leaders from the MDC formations. Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai challenged the officers to retire and join politics.
Such pronounced tensions between the army and the MDC may spell doom for
free and fair elections after the orgy of state-sponsored violence that
accompanied the 2008 presidential runoff.
Constitutional Law expert and National Constitutional Assembly chairman
Lovemore Madhuku said there was nothing to celebrate as the negotiators were
continuing on their merry-go-round.
“There is nothing new in what they said,” said Madhuku.
“They did not produce any timetable leading to fresh elections. It’s only
timeframes and we know they will not implement anything when one examines
what has happened in the past. They simply said everything hinged on the
constitutional review process which in itself is not clear when it will be
brought to an end,” he said.
Media Centre director Earnest Mudzengi believes the negotiators have only
agreed on peripheral issues and skirted around the core issues such as
security sector reforms.
“I think they will implement the minimal reforms they agreed on but without
security sector reforms and re-composition of the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission, the changes will not produce an undisputed election result,”
Mudzengi said.
South Africa and Sadc have played a crucial role in keeping the partners on
the long and arduous road to reforms meant to pave the way for fresh
elections.
Relations between the coalition partners reached their lowest ebb in March
when the two MDC formations complained to Sadc about the resurgence of
state-sponsored violence against their supporters and selective application
of the law by police following the arrest of opposition leaders.
This was in the aftermath of the incarceration of leading opposition
negotiators Moses Mzila Ndlovu and Elton Mangoma on trumped up charges. The
Sadc Troika on Politics, Defence and Security took the extraordinary
decision to save the wobbling coalition from collapsing by calling for the
immediate cessation of violence and political harassment, use of hate speech
and any other action that contradicted the letter and spirit of the GPA.
The dithering in implementing the GPA in full affirms statements by senior
officials in the coalition government that the status quo would continue
until 2013.
Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara has on several occasions told parliament
that the GPA and coalition agreement has no expiration date but would
continue until the next election.
His argument is that politicians should give the economy time to recover and
the full implementation of the GPA to create a conducive environment for
holding a credible election.
For now the country looks resigned to its fate, ululating and waiting for
the politicians to deliver. The wait is getting longer and the patience is
wearing off to the extent that the populace is “normalising” the abnormal.