ZIMBABWEAN POLITICS - SHIFTS AND DRIFTS

ZIMBABWE’S POLITICAL SHIFTS AND DRIFTS By Dumisani Nkomo The pace of Zimbabwean politics is such that the political terrain can change within a matter of weeks and unless political actors understand this fluidity they are likely to become irrelevant .It is thus critical for Zimbabwe’s opposition political parties to quickly reassert and re position themselves lest they become perpetual and eternal opposition parties .ZANU PF internal politics is also a complex phenomenon largely due to succession politics and protracted wars of attrition between various factions as evidenced in the recent provincial elections . Engagement or Disengagement Nicollo Machiavelli in the diabolical political classic “ The Prince “notes that the Prince must know when to be a” lion and when to be a fox “. A lion is defenceless in dealing with traps whilst a fox is defenceless against huge predators but is able to avoid traps which lions are incapable of escaping from . What has to be noted therefore is that ZANU P.F has moved away from the politics or policy of overt violence to the policy of engagement for fair or foul reasons it remains to be seen .This has seen ZANU P.F ministers freely attending public forums and meetings with some such as Jonathan Moyo visiting private media houses and even openly calling for the de criminalization of criminal defamation .By so doing ZANU P.F is trying to occupy the space which was previously occupied by the M.D.C formations and render them irrelevant . Matabeleland ZANU P.F is desperate to win parliamentary seats in Bulawayo which were swept clean by the M.D.C –T in an electoral avalanche .In doing his ZANU P.F will try and move away from their politics of denial about the marginalization of Matabeleland .They will increasingly talk about the need of re industrializing Bulawayo and bringing development to Matabeleland .In doing so they will try and take the rug from the feet of the opposition by taking their agenda and purport to be addressing the plight of the region .They may not however have the necessary capital to implement this development agenda but in terms of rhetoric and language they will use the same language as the opposition although skilfully evading the question of Gukurahundi .The M.D.C T and M.D.C Ncube in particular may find themselves without a clear agenda or message for the Matabeleland constituency if they do not wake up to ZANU P.F ‘s new strategy which thrives on diplomacy ,deceit and political charm . This shift in policy thrust by ZANU P.F is driven by imperatives of political survival which require a political entity or politician to change tactics according to the terrain and situation on the ground .Unfortunately our main opposition parties appear to be too slow to adjust to changing political landscapes and terrain .Consequently when they where focussing on how ZANU P. F was going to use violence in the elections ,ZANU P.F used smart violence and political fraud to outfox fox the two M.D.C formations . Right now ZANU P.F will make an audacious attempt to steal the opposition’s clothes whilst they are bathing and in doing so render the opposition irrelevant .This calls for opposition parties to wake up and smell the coffee and re align themselves to the present political realities instead of focussing on petty personality issues .There is an opportunity to pin ZANU P.F in its own half by using the gains of the new constitution to push for further reforms to align legislation to the new constitution .If ZANU P.F fails to do this they [opposition]can then expose the ruling party not only in parliament but to the people at grassroots ,through the media as well as regional and international platforms . ZANU P.F is pre occupied with the issue of legitimacy and re engaging the West in order to open lines of credit ,reduce the domestic and external debt and finance its ambitious economic blueprint ZIM ASSET .They clearly do not have the money for all this have and have awoken to the reality that sovereignty cannot feed the people .The Government is therefore desperate to be seen to be implementing a semblance of political reform . The country]s oppossion parties are obsessed with their own trivial wars of succession and factionalism which are a mirror of the situation in ZANU P.F .They need to quickly deal with their internal politics in power and unite around a common change and transformation agenda .They have largely failed to read the shift in the political terrain and appear to be drifting away from the people .They need to deal with their internal issues by next year and form a United Democratic Front which will include the two or more M.D.C formations ,the N.C.A ,ZAPU and other democratic forces .Outside of this they will fail once again in the 2018 elections . Mayibuye!