Brief parliamentary sitting ignores crisis

Brief parliamentary sitting ignores crisis

• Lobengula causes stir in Parliament

• Zimbabwe senate will last only 5 years

• Moyo fights senate constitutional amendment

By Cris Chinaka

THE first session of Zimbabwe's parliament after a month's recess lasted just five minutes, suggesting it was unlikely to implement measures quickly to confront the country's deepening economic crisis.

The sitting on Tuesday was the first since parliament went on recess after President Robert Mugabe's dominant ZANU-PF party pushed through controversial laws to tighten its grip on power. It was not clear why the sitting was so short.

The southern African country is battling severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages, rising inflation and unemployment in a crisis that Mugabe's critics blame on his government policies.

Critics accuse lawmakers of ignoring Zimbabwe's pressing economic and political problems that have forced an estimated 3.5 million Zimbabweans -- more than a quarter of the population -- to emigrate in search of a better life.

"Parliament should be the platform for honest debate of our national problems ... but in our case, Mugabe and ZANU-PF have tended to treat parliament as a process of formalising party positions," said John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer fiercely critical of Mugabe.

"The economic crisis that we are facing falls into the category of hot and embarrassing questions, and ZANU-PF ministers are not going to allow that to be debated publicly and honestly on the parliamentary floor," he said.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has become ineffective since it was dealt a crushing defeat in general elections last March. ZANU-PF emerged with a two-thirds majority in the 150-member parliament.

"They have used, and they will continue to use their numbers to stop parliament from tackling the real issues, because for some of them, the duty of all (ZANU-PF) party members is to defend Mugabe," Makumbe added.

Parliament has largely become a rubber-stamp institution for policies and decisions taken by the ruling party's politburo inner-cabinet, according to the critics.

In one of his most controversial moves since assuming power 25 years ago, Mugabe used ZANU-PF's parliamentary majority in August to approve constitutional changes allowing the government to effectively nationalise formerly white-owned farms and to impose travel bans on "traitors".

The government is due to unveil the 2006 national budget next month, but as in previous years, the budget process is unlikely to produce any profound debate on the economy.

Critics say Mugabe, 81, has manipulated a defective constitution that does not limit the number of terms a president can serve. They say he has diverted state resources into a system of political patronage to buy loyalty within ZANU-PF and used electoral violence against the opposition.

Mugabe rejects accusations that ZANU-PF has rigged major elections in the last 5 years to extend his rule in the face of an unprecedented opposition challenge and an economic meltdown.

The United States, former colonial ruler Britain and its European Union allies, have imposed travel and financial sanctions on Mugabe and some of his officials, mainly over the vote rigging charges.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
debate@newzimbabwe.com