Zanu-PF, Not The People, Will Choose The Zim President

ZANU-PF has decided to endorse Robert Mugabe’s candidacy for national president for the 2008 presidential election.

It has decided to also bring general elections forward by two years to coincide with the presidential election under the guise of wanting to harmonise elections. According to the VOA news, Zanu-PF Spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira told reporters after a Zanu-PF central committee meeting on March 31, 2007 that the resolution endorsing Mugabe was accepted by the Zanu-PF central committee and that “both the presidential and parliamentary elections will now be held in 2008.”Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa is also reported to have announced that “the party also resolved that if a presidential vacancy occurs between elections, parliament [and not the people of Zimbabwe] would elect an acting president”.Currently the constitution provides for a new election to be held within 90 days should there be a vacancy of President of Zimbabwe.Zanu-PF always passes its decisions as an organisation into national legislative policy as it holds a two-thirds parliamentary majority which it uses to pass law amendments as it pleases.The simplistic impression created by the above resolution is that Zimbabweans will be exercising their franchise to choose their president in 2008 primarily between Mugabe on the one hand, and the one who is going to represent the opposition MDC on the other.The obvious Zanu-PF calculation is that in Zanu-PF, Mugabe is the only candidate who stands the chance of commanding a significant vote if contesting against, say Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition, because of his residual, albeit fast-fading credibility based on his history of liberation credentials.In any case he is the only person in Zanu-PF who can claim to win elections and get away with it even if the elections are discredited and potentially manipulated.Once Mugabe is victorious in presidential elections in 2008 as he will most likely be unless something tragic or very significant happens, it does not matter if he lasts one day or a few months in office through resignation or death.Zanu-PF and not the people of Zimbabwe will thereafter choose his successor as President of Zimbabwe.That is the end game.It suits any faction contending for power in Zanu-PF as neither faction has any person with enough clout to match a united opposition candidate in 2008.The question of who is the next president for Zimbabwe after Mugabe becomes a purely domestic affair for Zanu-PF.Zimbabweans will have no say whatsoever on who their president will be.So much for democracy in the SADC region after the SADC Presidents meeting in Tanzania this week! For Zanu-PF, and obviously the increasingly discredited SADC political leadership, this is an insurance policy for Zanu-PF as it will guarantee that Zanu-PF notwithstanding its culture of violence, corruption, impunity and inability to turn around the fortunes of the country, will remain in power for the next 6 years in Zimbabwe which should give it enough time to regain its feet and guarantee its future success in the post-Mugabe era.This is the position that President Mbeki wants to guarantee for Zanu-PF through manipulation and inaction under the guise of quiet diplomacy.The right of Zimbabweans to effective civic participation in their national affairs and to choose a president of their choice does not matter to Zanu-PF or the SADC political leadership.Meanwhile, organised violence and torture, arbitrary arrests and detention and food insecurity and homelessness through forced evictions, continue to be rolled out unabated against political opponents as strategy to retain power at any cost.Is this leadership? * Arnold Tsunga is the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and 2006 winner of the Martin Ennals and the Human Rights Watch awards.He writes in his personal capacity.According to the VOA news, Zanu-PF Spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira told reporters after a Zanu-PF central committee meeting on March 31, 2007 that the resolution endorsing Mugabe was accepted by the Zanu-PF central committee and that “both the presidential and parliamentary elections will now be held in 2008.”Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa is also reported to have announced that “the party also resolved that if a presidential vacancy occurs between elections, parliament [and not the people of Zimbabwe] would elect an acting president”.Currently the constitution provides for a new election to be held within 90 days should there be a vacancy of President of Zimbabwe.Zanu-PF always passes its decisions as an organisation into national legislative policy as it holds a two-thirds parliamentary majority which it uses to pass law amendments as it pleases.The simplistic impression created by the above resolution is that Zimbabweans will be exercising their franchise to choose their president in 2008 primarily between Mugabe on the one hand, and the one who is going to represent the opposition MDC on the other.The obvious Zanu-PF calculation is that in Zanu-PF, Mugabe is the only candidate who stands the chance of commanding a significant vote if contesting against, say Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition, because of his residual, albeit fast-fading credibility based on his history of liberation credentials.In any case he is the only person in Zanu-PF who can claim to win elections and get away with it even if the elections are discredited and potentially manipulated.Once Mugabe is victorious in presidential elections in 2008 as he will most likely be unless something tragic or very significant happens, it does not matter if he lasts one day or a few months in office through resignation or death.Zanu-PF and not the people of Zimbabwe will thereafter choose his successor as President of Zimbabwe.That is the end game.It suits any faction contending for power in Zanu-PF as neither faction has any person with enough clout to match a united opposition candidate in 2008.The question of who is the next president for Zimbabwe after Mugabe becomes a purely domestic affair for Zanu-PF.Zimbabweans will have no say whatsoever on who their president will be.So much for democracy in the SADC region after the SADC Presidents meeting in Tanzania this week! For Zanu-PF, and obviously the increasingly discredited SADC political leadership, this is an insurance policy for Zanu-PF as it will guarantee that Zanu-PF notwithstanding its culture of violence, corruption, impunity and inability to turn around the fortunes of the country, will remain in power for the next 6 years in Zimbabwe which should give it enough time to regain its feet and guarantee its future success in the post-Mugabe era.This is the position that President Mbeki wants to guarantee for Zanu-PF through manipulation and inaction under the guise of quiet diplomacy.The right of Zimbabweans to effective civic participation in their national affairs and to choose a president of their choice does not matter to Zanu-PF or the SADC political leadership.Meanwhile, organised violence and torture, arbitrary arrests and detention and food insecurity and homelessness through forced evictions, continue to be rolled out unabated against political opponents as strategy to retain power at any cost.Is this leadership? * Arnold Tsunga is the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and 2006 winner of the Martin Ennals and the Human Rights Watch awards.He writes in his personal capacity.