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MDC must 'reconnect' with the people
By Melusi
Nyathi
TO THE open minded, subjectively or objectively, the MDC as a movement
or a political party is at its weakest, the party has fared dismally
in electoral contests and fared worse in mass protests and in rallying
pro-democracy forces.
The decline in fortunes of the movement is largely intrinsic and can be traced to internal, structural deficiencies. The party has suffered from internal incapacity to respond to external, powerful and ruthless machinery in Zanu PF and its inherent subsidiary institutions spanning the uniformed to the civil service.
It is indeed my considered opinion that the party in its current state, cannot and will not be able to carry forward the democratisation struggle.
The party has to revisit its founding principles and resolutions of the 1999 working peoples’ convention .The party has scored successes that can not be in doubt but for the continuation and finalisation of the democratic struggle, the party will have to reform and realign its forces.
The MDC programme for change document of 2000 says:
* that the party stands for the supremacy of the people and the nation over partisan or individual interests.
* the MDC stands for social democratic, human centred, equitable development, pursued in an environment of political pluralism, participatory democracy, accountable and transparent governance.
It is poignant to assess these noble ideals against what has and is happening in the party, and individuals now more important than the people and the nation .Over 80% of eligible Zimbabweans have lost confidence in the ballot, they certainly need a new system that will guarantee their rights and only a new constitution will do that.
The MDC’S ultimate goal as the president, Morgan Tsvangirai, puts it is to assume power through elections and other democratic means. That the party has not succeeded after 3 electoral contests and that there is no power at stake in the forthcoming senatorial polls should indeed put to scrutiny the need to continue pursuing that route with the same principals. It is critical to look at what have been the stumbling blocks in all elections and other attempts at resistance.
The party fared beyond expectations in 2000 and indeed the 2002 elections were stolen from the people. The groundswell of support for the party in the period 2000 -2002 could not be sustained by the two disappointments. The party responded by taking the legal route and belated mass protests, quite in order in so far as dealing with external dynamics is concerned, but fell short in as far as a movement of divergent interest groups in dealing with internal dynamics is concerned. The party is now consulting grassroots on senatorial polls, but just under a year it was doing the same with regards the lower house polls of 2005.
I hope the mood of the people was captured, not individual interests of people that want a pay and allowance cheque in Harare. The question that begs an answer is, ‘should the party continuously consult on matters of specific principle?’
It appears that it is doing exactly as per Zanu PF’s intentions, that is to continuously dance in concentric rings as they gnaw at the barks of a dry fallen tree, which is present day Zimbabwe, to use the late Masipula Sithole’s imagery, (may his soul rest in peace).
The Zanu PF diversionary tactic is as clear as broad daylight. They want the movement to continuously clutch at straws in the vain hope of power, what with amendment number 18?
People are still with the MDC, but the bigger question for the national council to ponder on Wednesday met was: ”Is the MDC still with the people? In fact if we are to compare constituency figures from the 2000 polls and all by elections, an interesting and disturbing picture emerges, that of a political party on a precipitous decline. The MDC needs a fresh RESTART, if it has to remain relevant. It can only begin with serious introspection, restructuring, capacity building and seeking a fresh mandate from the people. In short a pro-democracy movement convention re-establishing links with key civic society allies culminating in a serious restructuring roadmap leading to the much delayed and awaited congress.
It has to address its internal weaknesses and redirect its policies towards the poor especially with regards to land reform and black economic empowerment. It has to appeal to the peasants and re-look at the stance taken with regards to land reform vis-à-vis white farmer interests exemplified by the Munyaradzi Gwisai expulsion. In as much as indiscipline must never be tolerated, so is intolerance of opposing views and some other issues like incompetence.
The party seems to celebrate mediocrity, in fact the calibre of some MPs and councillors during the period 2000-2005 cried out loudly for recall. The party should be able to deal with dead wood decisively. The threat to internal democracy code-named “confirmation exercise” that was carried out before the 2005 elections must never be allowed.
The post mass action period was in fact the biggest test and biggest failure of the party to deal with rapidly changing internal and external dynamics. The party suffered from pains of growing up -- instead of focusing on the field of play and the terraces (outside world) -- the party should have carried out an extensive internal surgery. The problems that the country faced called for an extra-legal and extra-ordinary response. Some people and ideas were just not equal to the task. Issues of confidence-building and leadership renewal should have come up. The party clearly needed and lacked new blood, bold and inspirational leadership in its rank and file.
The calls for an extra-ordinary congress in 2003-2004 were thus not misplaced. That the party lost the people’s agenda during that period cannot be overemphasised. The test of real leading is not how many times you fall and rise, but what you do after rising. The MDC’s covenant with the people (manifesto 2005) though an excellent document missed the point that the people had lost confidence not only in elections under the current constitution, but were beginning to question the party’s’ capacity to govern. ZANU (PF) started playing at the culture of prevarication of the MDC on boycotts and threats. It is the same card being played now. I applaud the MDC youth assembly and others for making such bold calls against participation. It shows that they smell the coffee and are still with the people especially their constituency who are mostly in the ranks of the unemployed.
President Tsvangirai says the “struggle needs a radical paradigm shift. Parliament cannot be the main arena of our struggle. Our experience in parliament since 2000 shows that the struggle resides outside Zanu PF-dominated institutions.”
It indeed is refreshing to read such bold and radical stance after such a long time of inertia. The president must go further and be a visionary on methodology and new arenas. I will challenge the president to “give us a clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything”, just to restate words from Peter Marshall.
The MDC must not participate in senate elections. In fact the national council meeting on Wednesday should have been about lifting the suspension of the boycott of all elections that was effected in February, and chart new arenas of the struggle. It must look at the relevance of remaining in parliament so that the pro-democracy forces can have a fresh start. The party should have learnt lessons the hard way, more so after making such a fundamental error of judgement in lifting the boycott. A clear roadmap to the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis should be drawn on the horizon as a matter of urgency.
It has to be clear that non-participation without a clear programme of action is as good as participation and garnering the 15 or so seats that the party will surely get, albeit with a reduced turnout. The legitimacy of the MDC will be in question. If we fail the people on their greatest hour of need, then the people and surely history will judge the movement and leadership harshly.
Morgan Tsvangirai
must not only lead the MDC but the people. Any differences now more
than ever will sound the death knell for the MDC as a political alternative
and it surely will be a disappointment for those who died, colleagues
in the “camps” in South Africa and elsewhere and the suffering
Zimbabweans at home.
Melusi Nyathi is a pro-democracy activist and a member of the MDC
Email address: okamdluli1@
yahoo.co.uk
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