Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe grinned widely as he was accepted as a member of Zanu-PF’s Women’s League.
‘We endorse your candidature. No one can be compared to you. Do not leave us. We want you to rule forever” said a gushing Oppah Muchinguri, the women’s league leader, as she handed him a membership card at a ceremony at Zanu-PF headquarters.
Recently, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, headed to Mabvuku, a poor township east of Harare, where he too revelled in the support, talking tough on Mugabe and rallying support.
Patience has run out
More than two years after the two leaders were reluctantly brought together in a unity government, their patience with each other appears finally to have run out.
Both are returning to their supporters to whip up support for a new election, aware that there is little public enthusiasm for yet another poll.
Mugabe reinvigorates his cult
Mugabe has retracted to his party, where he has again begun reinvigorating the cult he has built around himself. Once again he is making sure that key organs of his party again declare him leader for life.
During this time he has addressed Zanu-PF’s women’s and youth leagues.
He no longer had any interest in staying in “this little unity government”, he told supporters.
“Some of the things we have had to put up with in this government, I tell you, are very stupid,” he said.
Mugabe wants a referendum on a new constitution by February and an election by June to rid himself of the discomfort of having to cooperate with Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai’s weary support base
Tsvangirai has lined up rallies, hoping to whip up enthusiasm among his weary support base. Many of his supporters fear new elections will simply be a repeat of 2008, when Zanu-PF attacked and intimidated voters.
Tsvangirai has told his supporters to get ready for elections, even though, showing his own fears, he said that any elections will have to see the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union deploying a “peacekeeping force” six months before and after the polls.
The latest row began after Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of “betrayal” because of his refusal to consult him on the appointment of senior bureaucrats, key among them provincial governors and diplomats.
In a fit rage the MDC leader wrote to the United Nations, the European Union and South Africa, asking them not to recognise diplomats sent by Mugabe.
Zimbabwe faced “a constitutional crisis”, said Tsvangirai, again calling for SADC’s intervention.
Row escalates
The row escalated quickly. In response to Tsvangirai’s criticism of Mugabe’s “rank madness”, Mugabe told supporters that Tsvangirai was “foolish” and ignorant about how the world worked. And his spokesperson, George Charamba, in reaction to Tsvangirai’s plea to governments not to recognise diplomats appointed by Mugabe, warned that Zimbabwe would react by expelling European diplomats.
Tsvangirai boycotted his usual Monday meeting with Mugabe, derided as “Monday tea” by the local media.
Tsvangirai has long been under pressure from hardline supporters who believe he has softened his stance since taking on the role of prime minister. He acknowledges that his trust in Mugabe had been misplaced and that he now feels betrayed.
His new tough stance appears to be an attempt to please his powerful backers and to force Mugabe’s hand.
It is a risky strategy. Last year, again frustrated by Mugabe’s attempts to slow down reforms, Tsvangirai announced he was “disengaging”, but not withdrawing, from the unity government.
Weeks later, with no concessions from Zanu-PF, he quietly called off his partial boycott, returning to full cooperation with Mugabe, but his credibility was heavily dented.
Recently, Tsvangirai boycotted a Cabinet meeting chaired by Mugabe and went to a remote eastern district to meet victims of new Zanu-PF attacks. While Tsvangirai’s stance might have won him some support, one of his senior officials said that he fears the MDC’s standing is once again at risk, “unless we can follow through this time round”.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, whose head, Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, had previously publicly opposed early elections, changed tack and said it is ready “to implement presidential proclamations” on elections.