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There has been a lot of debate in the media, of late, relating to what exactly the term “power-sharing” means and entails. The main thrust of this article is to clarify the obvious and in some cases, deliberate, distortions and untruths peddled by the state media on the subject of power-sharing.
A power-sharing government is one in which two or more political parties join hands in forming and running it. The ratio of power-sharing is entirely determined by the preceding agreement between the contracting political parties who agree to enter into a power-sharing government.
What is patently clear is that there is no precise formula for a power-sharing government. There is definitely no one-size-fits-all approach to the formulation of a power-sharing government. Each power-sharing government is unique and indeed, peculiar, to its own specific and special circumstances. Put differently, the model of a power-sharing government adopted in country A is not necessarily suitable for country B.
The power-sharing agreement signed by Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara on September 11, 2008 and solemnised amidst much regional fanfare on September 15 underpins the need for the country’s two major political parties, namely the MDC-T led by Tsvangirai and Zanu PF led by Mugabe to share power equitably and fairly.
There is nowhere in the memorandum of agreement where any one political party is described as the dominant political entity and thus, the party that will literally invite other political parties to join it in forming a so-called all-inclusive government.
My understanding of the 9/11 agreement is that it forms the global framework on which an all-inclusive government is to be formed.
It is therefore preposterous and indeed, fallacious, for Zanu PF to perceive itself as the “dominant’’ political party that should unilaterally determine the parameters and ramifications of an all-inclusive government in Zimbabwe. The 9/11 agreement conceptualises a government in which the MDC formations and Zanu PF share power equally. More importantly, the agreement has the outcome of the March 29 harmonised elections in which Tsvangirai emerged as the winner of the presidential electoral contest as its bedrock.
It is beyond debate that Mugabe was beaten hands down by Tsvangirai in the March poll. A sham election was held on June 27 in which Mugabe competed against himself and won “resoundingly’’. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate the overwhelming lack of legitimacy of the charade that took place in Zimabwe on June 27.
Surely, if Mugabe “won’’ the June 27 election run-off fairly and legimately with over 85% of the total valid votes cast as announced by the thoroughly discredited and partial Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), then why didn’t he proceed to quickly form a government as the overwhelming “winner’’ of the presidential election run-off? The mere fact that Mugabe has not formed a government nearly five months after “trouncing’’ Tsvangirai during the June 27 run-off election speaks volumes about the lack of legitimacy of that particular election “result”. The annals of history have recorded the murderous campaign perpetrated by Zanu PF that preceded the June election run-off.
This one-man “election’’ received unprecedented and universal condemnation from even the Sadc observer mission, the Pan-African Parliament observer mission and the AU observer mission. This is the main reason Thabo Mbeki found it necessary to broker the power-sharing agreement of 9/11.
In normal electoral dispensations, an overwhelming winner of a free and fair election can never be compelled to share power with a loser. It will really be up to the winner to show his magnanimity by inviting the loser to join him in government. And we all know that it is not within Mugabe’s political DNA to invite electoral losers into his government!
Tsvangirai is, therefore, perfectly within his rights when he demands that there must be genuine and equitable power-sharing between himself and Mugabe before he can join the so-called all-inclusive government.
Mugabe and Zanu PF have absolutely no right to unilaterally dictate the terms and conditions of the power-sharing government. By unilaterally apportioning cabinet portfolios as done by Robert Mugabe some few weeks ago, the need for Tsvangirai to be more careful in his dealings with Mugabe cannot be over-emphasised. As Tsvangirai has repeatedly said, it is better to have no deal than to have a bad deal. The people of Zimbabwe spoke on March 29 and who are we to ignore the wishes of the voters who chose Tsvangirai to be their president?
The 9/11 agreement should not and indeed, cannot, be taken as a substitute for the people’s choice as reflected in the outcome of the March elections. If anything, Tsvangirai should be applauded for exhibiting true statesmanship by agreeing to have Mugabe, a clear loser of the legitimate March presidential election, remain as head of state!
Power-sharing is not and can never be an easy thing to do in politics. Political parties, rightly so, contest for political power to enable themselves to form governments. Thus, it is always going to be very difficult and painful, for electoral winners to form coalition governments with electoral losers. Even in Kenya, the situation is not all that rosy.
Raila Odinga was forced to share power with Mwai Kibaki in order to avert a major catastrophe in Kenya. But recently and especially after the outcome of the Waki Report was made known, things have really been on a knife-edge in Kenya. Justice Philip Waki’s report is basically an analysis of the causes and effects of the post-election violence in Kenya between December 2007 and January 2008.
And now some politicians in Odinga’s political party are crying foul alleging that the Waki Report is a witch-hunting exercise meant to tarnish their image by labelling them ‘’warlords’’ who masterminded the post-election violence. There is even talk of bringing those politicians implicated by the Waki Report to trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.
This clearly shows the need for Tsvangirai to enter a power-sharing government only after ensuring that the rug will not be pulled from under his feet once he blindly enters into a government that is dictated by the whims and fantasies of Mugabe and his Zanu PF party.
All important issues such as the promulgation of Constitutional Amendment No 19, the equitable distribution of cabinet portfolios, governorships, senior diplomats and senior civil servants as well as the composition and operations of the National Security Council, have to be clearly and unequivocally canvassed and agreed upon before Tsvangirai can be sworn in as Zimbabwe’s new prime minister.
Nothing short of this should be acceptable. Power-sharing doesn’t mean rushing into an improperly-constituted government simply because the people are suffering. Fortunately for Tsvangirai, the majority of the people understand the basis of his reservations and certainly; he remains arguably the most popular national leader in Zimbabwe at the moment.
Editor’s note: Obert Gutu is the MDC Senator for Chisipite and a member of the party’s National Legal Committee.
I agree with you Morgan is internationally renowned fighter for democracy.South africa is afraid Zimbabwe will be powerful more than them.with a leader like Morgan Africa will look at Zimbabwe for leadership. we have better educated people than the rest of africa. we are intelligent and hardworking society.carryout a survey if you want .ask anybody in the world we are very knowleadgeable people. But MUgabe and ZAnu pf is bent on destroying everything built by our fore fathers. we are now scatered all over the world like lost sheep. we have been reduce to beggars. all because of one corrupt woman Grace MUgabe the cause of our problems
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Its better no deal than to dine with Mugabe who want a deal to cater for their personal fears and not the people’s situations. Walk away if they still exhibit their intransigiences as if they have ever won an election in /zimbabwe aramba Pfungwe to assess the situation there because these people seem to be living in a different world.
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Tsvangirai cannot be a threat even to the most incompetent gvt ever. He is a bloody puppet for goodness’ sake. Do not insult the South Africans.
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This article makes interesting reading, very interesting. VaGutu; I cannot help get the impression that somewhere in your heart and mind you believe that there is going to be a grand gesture from Gushungo & Associates, LTD. I am afraid to tell you that magnanimity does not exit in the thoughts, minds, even hearts of the aforesaid LTD. “Never never………herereh herereh soveriniti, the British; and other words to that effect”. That is all Gushungo & Associates, LTD are about. Anything that ameliorates the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe goes against the very grain and ethos of Gushungo and Zanu, I am sorry to say this; but our people can and probably will die in their tens of thousands, daily, weekly, monthly, and all Gushungo will tell you is “…..sanctions are killing the people”. The MOU, GPA whatever you wish to call it, was NEVER thrashed out in magnanimity, so do not expect it, moreover the principal parties (mainly MDC-M & MDC-T) signed it, after being seduced by the bold print, and did not look at the fine print and text, why are we still here then if
that was not the case? Gushungo will never cede power and authority, voluntarily; particularly to those who he loathes let alone hold in contempt, so even if Tsvangi is to remain on guard, he will do so until kingdom come. Gushungo infamously said that the gun should safeguard the ballot, songs like “Zimbabwe ndeye ropa” still ring in my ears. There is nothing to be on guard here folks, Zanu is hoping and waiting that MDC-T, especially them; and the other faction, fall for the trap: hook, line and sinker, as did Nkomo and ZAPU. There will never be any equitable power sharing with Gushungo and any of his immediate cronnies at the helm, not on your ninnies! This is well and truly beyond being on guard, we need change, and we need change that puts the people first, and not the selfish self preservation attitude Gushungo and his lot have.SADC, Pan African Parliament, and the AU all outrightly said that the June election was the biggest sham , probably to date, in Africa. What do they suggest: we implement the GPA immediately, and share the bitterly contested Home Affairs Min. A bunch of retarted morons I say. We are definately not going to get any decisive action from those idiots. Tsvangi MUST, he MUST; if he can, go right back to the drawing board, tear off the the sheet with the current plan, and start afresh, I tell you people; if it happened to ZAPU, rest assured Gushungo is hoping to do the same with MDC-T & MDC-M, they should NOT fall for it. Hold steadfast I say, they, and most importantly us the people, will never see the change we so desperately need, so long as Gushungo is in charge.
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Sad to say but it does seem that in order to save thousands, even millions, it may be necessary to sacrifice one man. It does seem increasingly clear even to the most optimistic that Mr Mugabe is the main obstacle and that he does not understand reason – only force (hence the ridiculous fist he raises all the time – he is getting too old for that and really does look rather silly when he does it). He is in danger of becoming one of Africa’s biggest sick jokes…. if he isn’t already
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i bed to differ with this writter who seem to be doing the rite thing wen in actual fact is venting his misguided lies on unspecting people. As a matter of fact let me clarify my satus, am simply a Zimbabwean by everything and for that i dont take irt lightly wen people like u for watever reasons misrepresent issues.
Yes Morgan won the March polls and even Mugabe admitted that, but the issue is Zimbabwe is a Constutional state, nomatter how flaed that cease-fire-cum-constitution document is. As a result Morgan’s victory felt short for watever reason to make him the president that people like u want him to be.If u are saying the only elections to be held in Zim were the March elections then u cant be selective and say MDC won Parliamentary majority and then Morgan was robbed of victory, its either both were fair results or unfair. Put is simple Morgan was never elected the president of Zi.(almost but not).
Secondly the basis for the Global Poltical Agreement is the very Marc polls, that is, the determinant as of who get what. By popular vote, the very vote that put MDC is “contol” of Parliament, ZANU-PF was allocated more ministries than MDC-T and M. Popular vote means more peolpe voted for ZANU-PF than any thing else, even Morgan and the negotiators were made aware of this at the discussions to draft the agreement.
As of Mugabe inviting or watever u want to call it. U need to allign ur lies with facts. Firstly whether u like it or not Mugabe still commands respect amongst African and Third world leadrs, for he is the voice of the voiceless. Thats why he heed the call to join forces with others, Morgan included. He did it with Zapu so why not now? Like wat i said flawed as it stands, he was recognised by the constitution as the President of Zim thats why he still cariies that title today, If the deal is to collapse(which it wont tho pple like u want it to) Morgan wont have any title but Bob will cling to his.
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we run this ****-stop wating your breath. morgan signed,,,flip flop.
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Mr. Vadim Danilov was invited by Mr. Naohiro Baba to strike up an acquaintance with Mr. Harry Fujimaki to work for Toshiba Corporation (株式会社東芝 Kabushiki-gaisha Tōshiba) as a general logistics manager in the Russian Federation. The event occurred in 2004. In the course of two years Mr. Danilov had been “employed” in other spheres such as, a certification specialist, customs broker, trader, promoter, etc. Mr. Danilov worked effectively and honestly thinking that he was a team player contributing to Toshiba’s benefits.
To his disappointment, Mr. Koichiro Natsume, an executive manager of Toshiba Corporation in the CIS, declared him a Toshiba Official Trader at the Conference at the Imperial Park Hotel, Moscow, 2006. In addition, Mr. Koichiro Natsume declared that Mr. Danilov Vadim was officially registered by Toshiba Corporation as Toshiba’s Official Trader named “the Ninth Wave” (‘Deviatiy Val’). To conclude the announced procedures, Mr. Natsume Koichiro issued to “Deviatiy Val” a Toshiba invoice PI 20060800059 dated August 24, 2006. The invoice was paid to a TCMS official account at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Singapore Branch.
Moreover, there were other financial transactions during 2006-2007-2008 years, executed by Mr. Vadim Danilov between clients and Toshiba Consumer Marketing Singapore, SMBC Singapore branch account.
After all the payments were completed, Mr. Koichiro Natsume vanished somewhere in Japan. Toshiba Corporation managers in Russia, Japan and Singapore refused to explain to Mr. Vadim Danilov how those payments had been used.
Toshiba Corporation & TCMS, insist that Mr. Vadim Danilov has no evidences that Toshiba Invoice PI 20060800059 had been paid, as well as all the other payments.
Moreover: Toshiba Corporation declares now that Mr. Vadim Danilov had never had any relations with Toshiba Group Companies.
Nowadays, the Toshiba staff is running away from Mr. Danilov Vadim and his lawyers. The Metropolitan Police Department refused to investigate the accident and explained to Mr. Vadim Danilov that he has no right to bring in an action against a Japanese citizen; nevertheless, Mr. Koichiro Natsume is probably hiding in Japan.
Summary of the case:
Toshiba Corporation managers are too afraid of Mr. Vadim Danilov’s knowledge of Toshiba management precisely elaborated scheme for “personal financial transactions” via third parties as a ‘private financial network’ Russia-Estonia-Finland-Singapore.
We wish to reach full understanding with Toshiba Corporation since we do respect your company image and position in the industry.
We are ready to provide you with all documents we have at our disposal in order to prove Mr. Vadim Dalinov’s claim.
Sincerely Yours,
David Schneider
Independent civil lawyer
david_lawyer@walla.com
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