Extra-parliamentary groups in Zimbabwe have signalled their intention to “fight the expropriation of the Constitution” by the ruling Zanu-PF. In a move seen as showing disillusionment with party politics in the country, more than 500 delegates from 50 civic groups will converge on Harare this weekend under the banner “Deciding Zimbabwe’s Destiny”.
Arnold Tsungu, organising chairperson of the conference, told the Mail & Guardian that they would devise strategies and build consensus on a new constitution.
“Politicians have failed to achieve what Zimbabweans want. Zimbabwe is the only country in SADC [Southern African Development Community] without a homegrown constitution. It’s a shame.”
President Robert Mugabe last week signed into law constitutional amendments, the 17th round of changes since independence in 1980, designed to deny travel visas to government critics, remove legal recourse to protect property rights and reintroduce the senate.
“We want a new constitution, not piecemeal reforms. We will mobilise people into mass demonstrations to fight for a new constitution,” said Lovemore Madhuku of the National Constitutional Assembly and a member of the conference steering committee.
But attempts at robust opposition to the government have not yielded much success in the past. Analysts, however, point out that Zanu-PF’s only defeat at the ballot box was in a 2000 referendum on the constitution. Already there is talk among civil society activists about rallying citizens to boycott the Senate elections that Mugabe has indicated he wants before the end of the year.
Under the Act that creates the Senate as the upper chamber of Parliament, constituencies will directly elect 50 seats; the president will appoint six members from interest groups and 10 traditional chiefs. The cash-strapped government has allocated R13,5-million to the poll.
Running parallel to the civic gathering will be the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) national executive meeting. “Civic groups and the MDC can’t afford to pull in different directions because they have a common enemy,” an MDC official in the party’s Harare offices told the M&G.
The party, as was the case before the disputed March parliamentary polls, is again divided about what path to take. Party insiders said that despite their public posturing on the legitimacy of elections, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and party secretary Welshman Ncube favour taking part. They face resistance from party intellectual Tendai Biti. Influential Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president Lovemore Matombo also described the electoral route as “just a dead horse”.
Political analyst Professor Brian Raftopolous of the Institute for Development Studies is also of the view that participation would be a political disaster for the MDC. “The Act grossly undermines the rights of Zimbabweans … They must take a stand and refuse to participate.”
MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said the party faces a difficult balancing act. He said they have held eight consultative rallies across the country, but admits that it has been difficult decisively to call the mood of the party faithful.
“I see no logic in boycotting,” said University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred Masunungure. “They have already participated in the enactment of the Act at Parliament level. They cannot now turn around after a perfectly democratic process had taken shape. They can’t have one leg in the lower house and not have any in the upper chamber.”
The Senate elections are also likely to cause schisms in the ruling party.
The Zanu-PF primaries ahead of the March elections were fraught with infighting that turned violent.