The Zimbabwe Review: MDC

Showing posts with label MDC. Show all posts

A change is not gonna come

Sep 18, 2012

Chido Makunike

Many Zimbabweans hope that there will soon be a fundamental change in how the country's politics are conducted. Whatever change to a more 'free and democratic' dispensation takes place will likely be small and incremental, rather than revolutionary. Here's why.

The controversial MDC/ZANU-PF popularity poll result as a sign of a maturing Zimbabwean citizenry

Sep 3, 2012

by Chido Makunike

The opinion poll by U.S. think tank Freedom House suggesting reduced support for the MDC and an increase in support for ZANU-PF has caused an understandable stir. It has particularly done so by going against what had become, in some circles. the accepted wisdom of an impeding electoral landslide by the MDC over ZANU-PF.

Is the aid-dependent neocolonialism in Malawi what would be in store for Zimbabwe under an MDC government?

Jun 1, 2012

by Chido Makunike

New Malawian president Joyce Banda has wasted no time in trying to undo as much of the legacy of her late predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika, as possible. Her main thrust can be quite simply summarized as: bend over backwards to do all that is necessary to appease the Western 'donors.' A deep practical and psychological donor dependence on the West is nothing at all new in Africa. It is a major, tragic hallmark of relations between post-'independence' Africa and its former colonizers. But in recent years there had begun to be a stirring of African interrogation of this debilitating disease. It is therefore startling that in 2012, there is an African president who appears to almost proudly put the dependence of her country on foreign 'donors' as the cornerstone of her plans for her country's future. Would a similar fate befall Zimbabwe under Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party if they came to power?

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur and his knights of the political circus

Jan 1, 2012

One famous Arthur was an English king and his knights of the round table. An infamous modern Arthur is the deputy prime minister of Zimbabwe, Arthur Mutambara. Around his table he is gathering a dubious collection of individuals and tactics in his desperate bid to hold onto his position and perks. A youngish man who masquerades under the country’s fractured political ‘change’ movement, Mutambara is practicing precisely the old kind of politics Zimbabwe needs to put behind. In the process he not only manages to make himself look small and ridiculous, he illustrates how positive political change in Zimbabwe will take much longer and require much more fundamental societal change than just replacing some faces with new ones.

ZANU-PF’ ‘empowerment, MDC’s ‘more investment’ need not be seen as contradictory

Dec 28, 2011

ZANU-PF and the MDC will start 2012 with a heightened awareness that a crucial election for them and for the country is not far away, whatever the final dates will be. As the parties sell themselves to the voters, it has become clear that their visions of how to bring about an economically prosperous Zimbabwe are starkly different. But are ‘empowerment’ and ‘attracting investment’ best thought of as opposing philosophies, or as two sides of the same coin?

Why have Morgan Tsvangirai and his handlers allowed Locadia Tembo marriage issue to become a public relations disaster?

Nov 28, 2011

Almost from any angle, the story of if and how Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai got traditionally married to Ms. Locadia Karimatsenga Tembo is strange. That his emissaries went to her family and took part in some socio-cultural ceremony is not denied by any one. But was it the traditional payment of roora/lobola/bride price, or was it ‘damages’ for her reported out-of –wedlock pregnancy? That has been the crux of much of the discussion, with surprisingly confusing signals from those who would be expected to know, and surprising reluctance from the two ‘principals’ to clear this up and avoid a looming public relations disaster for Tsvangirai. Quite unintentionally, what should be a straight forward and happy private matter has become a fraught issue of personal and political brand management, or the lack of it.

Militias and the privatization of ZANU-PF, MDC political violence

Nov 21, 2011

The leaders of ZANU-PF and the MDC recently made a big show of a joint appeal for the end of political violence between and amongst their supporters. However, the culture of political violence has become so entrenched in Zimbabwe that there are actors aligned to but outside the direct control of the political parties and their leaders who have their own interests in continuing to sponsor violence.

The unfortunate symbolism of an MDC mass salute to its leader

Oct 20, 2011

The startling photo below appeared in one of the local papers a few months ago. It was said to be of MDC supporters at a rally ‘saluting,’ military-style, party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

''Ok, so what could be wrong with party members showing respect to their leader? Why do you have to 'problematize' (Zimnglish) everything?''

The dangers of characterizing Zambia's election in Zimbabwean political terms

Sep 25, 2011

With the election of Michael Sata as president, Zambia continues to entrench its democratic tradition. It is impossible to ignore the contrast with the slow, reluctant moves towards a free system of elections and routine power transfer in Zimbabwe.

Deconstructing Tsvangirai's Chicago speech

Sep 20, 2011

MDC leader and Zimbabwe prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai was recently in Chicago, apparently on a trip with a mainly business/investment promotion bent. With his coalition government partner and arch foe president Robert Mugabe also in the USA, to address the UN, it almost looks like the two are competing to sell themselves internationally. What does Tsvangirai's main address to a business grouping in Chicago reveal about him?

MDC leaders want to attack Mugabe government, but comfortably remain its senior members

Sep 13, 2011

The MDC parties are on to a very good racket as members of the coalition government with ZANU-PF. On one hand it allows them to pose as the opposition when it suits them, and to distance themselves from unpopular or failed initiatives of the joint government. On the other hand they are very happy and comfortable having access to the positions and perks of being part of the ruling authority. This may be the real reason the leaders of these parties want elections to be postponed as long as possible, rather than the best interests of Zimbabweans.

Foreign-sponsored regime-change in Libya; effects on Zimbabwe

Aug 30, 2011

Deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is not in Zimbabwe and is unlikely to seek refuge there, but his months-long, carefully foreign-orchestrated, funded and armed fall is inevitably reverberating through Zimbabwe's politics.

Tsvangirai's risky, tactically ill-advised interview with the UK Telegraph

Jun 23, 2011

Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF have been relentless in accusing Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC of being 'puppets' of the West, and particularly of former colonial power Britain. The MDC's continuing significant support shows that that the electorate do not buy this, or perhaps that many of them don't care as much about this as they do about deposing Mugabe & Co. But it is still amazing how inept Tsvangirai and his team are at making sure that this charge does not stick to them.

New ministerial luxury cars hurt MDC image more than ZANU-PF's

One of the many problems for the MDC party in joining ZANU-PF to form a coalition government is how they can continue to be seen as the alternative and the future while now being part of the system. It is a fine, very difficult line for them to walk.

Why the reference by the MDC's Eddie Cross to 'tribal areas' is ill-advised

Jun 19, 2011

A senior official of Morgan Tsvangirai's version of the MDC has unwittingly shown why it has often been so easy for Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF to dismiss their opponents as defenders of the old colonial order. While it is aided in its fight for influence and power against ZANU-PF just by the sorry state of the country Mugabe has ruled for 31 years, the MDC often shockingly drops the ball in the subtleties of how it gets its messagage across and how it is perceived.

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