Interrogating 'Third Way' concept

Interrogating 'Third Way' concept

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• Ndaba Mabhena: Zimbabwe needs to debate 'Third Way'

• Jonathan Moyo: The Third Way -Zimbabwe's last Chimurenga

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• Jonathan Moyo: Why Mugabe should go now

• Moyo says Mugabe engaged in 'sunset politics'

• Grace Kwinjeh: 'Third force' or counter revolutionary claptrap?

• YOUR SHOUTS: Nyarota, Ncube have lost their bearings

• Brighton Musonza: Trevor and Geoff spread confusion

• Lance Guma: Trevor has lost the plot

• Ncube: Zimbabwe needs 'third way' solution

• Nyarota: Time may be ripe for third force

By Advocate Lucas Nkomo

THE word "revolution" appears at least eleven times in Professor Jonathan Moyo's article advocating a "Third Way" for Zimbabwe published by New Zimbabwe.com on 26 July 2005.

In the article Moyo proclaims that the situation in Zimbabwe calls for a people's revolution; that the situation cannot be reversed through the niceties of formal or legalistic measures; and that the "Third Way" is a revolution that must be prosecuted and led by Zimbabweans.

While the phrase "Third Way" has been used at differrent times in the history of political ideas to mean differrent political ideologies or philosophies in different countries, Moyo's appropriation of the phrase to describe this new political movement has brought it to the fore within the Zimbabwean political context. Those who have used the phrase "Third Way" to describe their political philosophy or ideology range from former US President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on the one hand, and the fascist villain Benito Mussolini on the other. It is therefore plain that besides Moyo's appropriaton of the phrase, its very history shows that there is no single "Third Way" political philosophy valid for every country or political situation.

The immediate challenge in Zimbabwe is to emancipate the people from the tyranny of the Mugabe regime by any means neccessary and effect change to a democratic dispensation. In that light, Mugabe has at his disposal the State's institutionalised monopoly of force and violence: the police, armed forces and repressive legislation. Indeed the Gukurahundi genocide and other human rights abuses that have occured in the past twenty-five years are clear testimony that Mugabe does not hesitate to unleash the State instruments of force and violence against any percieved political enemy. The success of any revolution in Zimbabwe will therefore depend on the strategy it adopts against the veritable repressive State apparatus that Mugabe has at his disposal.

Assuming, therefore, that there is in fact a so-called "Third Way" political movement as articulated by Moyo in his article at issue, it is imperative that we interrogate its revolutionary and emancipatory claims. This contribution seeks to interrogate the nascent political movement's claim to be a "revolution" and hopefully contribute to its coming up with an emancipatory strategy that will take the struggle for political change beyond where the MDC appears to be stuck. Otherwise there is no point in wasting time on simplistic and half-baked ideologies that cannot make a practical contribution toward dislodging Mugabe's stranglehold on Zimbabwe.

"The fundamental question therefore is: by what "informal" and "extra-legal" means is the "Third Way" going to seize State power fron ZANU (PF)?"

LUCAS NKOMO

We are all aware that the MDC's strategies have so far failed to accomplish regime change. Job stay-aways, calls for a 'final push', targeted sanctions imposed by the international community as a result of the MDC's campaign, and participation in elections have all failed to effect democratic change. While the MDC has achieved victories in both parliamentary and local government elections, those victories at times appear to be no better than losses because there is no meaningful change that the presence of MDC elected reprsentatives has fostered. Instead, the tyranny of the ZANU (PF) regime has intensified in reaction to the presence of the MDC in the political landscape. So much blood has been shed and suffering wrought on the people of Zimbabwe in the past four years of the ZANU (PF)-MDC imbroglio. Yet no effective political change has been achieved for the betterment of the people of Zimbabwe.

In his notorious 16th Century book on how to acquire and maintain political power: The Prince, Niccollo Machiavelli offers a frank exposition of elementary political wisdom: he posits the view that it is futile to pursue a political purpose by methods that are bound to fail; if the end is held good, we must choose means that are adequate to its achievement. As a cultivated intellectual in the field of politics, Moyo must surely appreciate the significance of employing adequate means to achieve desired political ends.

Yet Professor Moyo's article is conspicuously silent on the means by which the "Thrd Way" revolution will achieve its avowed goals. We need to know what emancipatory strategy the "Third Way" will employ besides what Moyo calls "the nicities of formal or legalistic measures".

The ultimate goal of a revolution against an oppressive regime in the mould of ZANU (PF) is the seizure of State power and then use it to transform society toward the goals of that revolution. The fundamental question therefore is: by what "informal" and "extra-legal" means is the "Third Way" going to seize State power fron ZANU (PF)?.

The political situation in Zimbabwe has so far shown certain perculiarities that prompt a rethinking of the ideal conditions under which a revolution can be regarded as inevitable. The history of the past three Centuries provides a telling record of successful and unsuccessful revolutions, some of them carried out against overwhelming odds. From the American and French Revolutions to the Cuban and African anti-colonial revolutions we learn that there are periods in the life of human society when a revolution becomes an imperative necessity, when it proclaims itself as inevitable.

Those familiar with the history and causes of revolutions may agree that the situation in Zimbabwe, at least in the past three years, has been ripe for a revolution. Yet we have not witnessed any serious attempt at mass uprising against the tyranny of the Mugabe regime and the crushing economic crisis that the country is reeling under.

It is against this background that a disambiguation of "revolution" in the context of the "Third Way" in Zimbabwe is necessary. Generally revolutions are either violent or non-violent. Violent revolutions usually take the path of warfare in its various forms.Non-violent revolutions usually take the path of mass demonstrations, civil disobedience, non-violent rebellion,picketing and so on. The MDC has employed or attempted perhaps all possible non-violent means of struggle against the Mugabe regime to no avail. The futility of employing non-violent means against a violent totalitarian regime is something to be said against the advocates of a non-violent struggle against the ZANU (PF) dictactorship. A plethora of repressive legislation and the politicisation of the police and other state security organs has effectively blocked any avenue for a non-violent revolution in Zimbabwe. Add to that the perrenial complaints of electoral fraud that the ZANU (PF) regime is accused of perpetrating, and the prospects of a non-violent revolution recede even further.

As to violent revolutions, one of the 20th Century's most respected political theorist on the subject of revolutions, Hannah Arendt, observed that in a contest of violence against violence the superiority of the government has always been absolute; but this superiority lasts only so long as the power structure of the government is intact - that is, so long as commands are obeyed and the army or police forces are prepared to risk their lives and use their weapons. She goes on to observe that the sudden and dramatic breakdown of power, which ushers in revolutions, reaveals in a flash how civil obedience - to the laws, to the rulers, to the institutions - is but the outward manifestation of support and consent.

By what strategy then is the "Third Way" going to accomplish its avowed revolutionary ideals? The very essence of a revolutionary strategy is the idea that there is an inextricable link between the means used and the ends proposed. A revolution as an act of destruction of the oppressive system is simulteneously an act of creation of the new order such that the means used eventually determine what political structure will emerge on the rubble of the old. We cannot afford to stake the destiny of Zimbabwe on another vanguardist political movement which is likely to supplant ZANU (PF) instead of bringing about change. The tragic betrayal felt by those who fought alongside or supported ZANU (PF) during the nationalist liberation struggle and are now horrified by the way it has recanted its then avowed revolutionary ideals is obvious. We cannot repeat that history by unquestioning embrace of any political movement at this juncture without having any idea of the means by which it seeks to liberate us.

Like Professor Jonathan Moyo says, Zimbabwe should never be a tyranny again. It is anticipated that the ZANU (PF) regime will maintain the offensive against any movement seeking to dislodge it from power: it will not act against its own interests by failing to fully deploy the repressive State apparatus at its disposal. Yet the essence of revolution is not, in all situations, illegality or armed confrontation with the repressive instruments of the State, but the nature of the movement which backs it up. The task of revolutionaries, in some situations, is not to take up the gun but to engage in the long , hard work of conscientising the masses, especially the rural folk, on the need for revolutionary change.After all, it is said, the ramparts of defence against tyranny and oppression ultimately lie in the hearts of the people.
Advocate Lucas Nkomo is a Zimbawean lawyer currently based in Sydney, Australia. He works at Maddocks Lawyers and can be contacted at lucasnkomo@gmail.com
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