It was all so painfully predictable. Leaders of SADC gathered in Pretoria last Monday to break the stalemate in attempts to form an inclusive government in Zimbabwe.

A communiqué was issued triumphantly proclaiming a breakthrough. An inclusive government would be up and running by February 13, 2009. Moments later the MDC issued a statement denying being party to such an agreement. It said outstanding issues brought before the summit had not been addressed to its satisfaction. It would refer the matter to a meeting of its National Executive Council on Friday 29 January.

Recriminations followed.

The MDC’s spokesman, Nelson Chamisa said in a statement: “It is important that finality be brought to this issue and therefore our National Council will meet to define the party position.” He was right. The matter must be finalized. This will certainly be the MDC’s most important meeting since its formation. It is decision time. The outcome of the meeting will have a huge bearing on the future of the party.

The National Council passed two resolutions last November and December stating categorically that five outstanding issues had to be addressed before the MDC could join an inclusive government. These were the enactment of Constitutional Amendment 19, the definition of National Security Council legislation, equitable allocation of ministries, the appointment of governors and other senior positions and breaches of the Memorandum of Understanding and Global Political Agreement. Add to this the abductions, torture, illegal detention of MDC members and civil society activists. For months the MDC held steadfast insisting on the resolution of these issues as a non-negotiable condition for joining the government.

The obvious question the National Council must ask is whether these issues have been addressed. Honest answers must be provided by leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his negotiation team. No spin. No lies. No vague empty promises. Only straightforward answers will do.

From the information available, including that contained in the official SADC communiqué the answer is an emphatic no. Promises were made that issues raised by the MDC would be looked into but none were partially or fully addressed. The MDC got nothing from the summit. If the party is to honour its own resolutions it should not be part of an inclusive government.

If Tsvangirai buckled under pressure and agreed to what was outlined in the communiqué he had no mandate from the party to do so. Honest and principled leadership demands that the MDC says to SADC thanks but no thanks.

There is no doubt that the road ahead would be a difficult one if the MDC rejects SADC’s decision. But their honour and credibility would still be intact. That difficult road is likely to lead to victory. The alternative, abject surrender to Robert Mugabe, would certainly lead to the death of the party as a political force. They should be under no illusion that this would be the fate capitulation would bring.

The last thing that should concern them is what SADC leaders would say or do. Whatever the MDC does these leaders with one or two exceptions will remain devoted to Mugabe. The MDC’s concern should be the people of Zimbabwe and its founding principles. That is what should guide the decision on Friday.

Since the year 2000 hundreds of MDC members have been murdered by the Mugabe regime. Many more were abducted, tortured, jailed and displaced from their homes in the cruelest manner imaginable. These were ordinary folk who under the banner of the MDC were fighting for basic freedoms and democracy. They were fighting for the right to elect their leaders freely. If on Friday the MDC throws in the towel and is essentially co-opted into Mugabe’s government these people would have died and suffered in vain.

They will have every right to be bitter and angry. They will know that that at a critical juncture in the struggle for democracy leaders in whom they had invested so much trust betrayed them. They abandoned them to join Mugabe at the high table to eat whatever he gave them from his plate. That for selfish reasons disguised as national interest they breathed life into an ailing brutal dictatorship. They will never forget or forgive such treachery.

Furthermore the MDC must ask itself what it can achieve in a government in which it will be marginalized and powerless. If they think they have seen the worst of Mugabe they are in for a rude awakening. They may be naïve and starry-eyed believing that the proposed government will actually work. It will not. Mugabe’s priority will remain the destruction of the MDC.

Shrewd as he is he knows that the MDC will pay a heavy political price for being his poodles in a government in which they will be mere spectators. When they are sufficiently discredited and weakened he will spit them out and call for an early election. At that point what can the MDC say to the people of Zimbabwe disgusted by their unprincipled alliance with a regime that has destroyed their lives?

A South African judge of the Constitutional Court once said that if you walk into a lion’s en an meet a lion you should not complain that you met a lion. If the MDC joins Mugabe in government it should not complain when he savages and humiliates as he will surely do. They will have nowhere and no one to turn to. One has to be a blithering idiot to believe that the so-called monitoring mechanism put in place will have any effect.

It is as worthless as SADC and AU guarantees.

This will be a government created in Mugabe’s image. All the MDC will get out of it are fat salaries and perks for a few in government. Once they are in and the enormity of their error and its fatal political consequences become obvious it will be too late. They would have lost the lifeblood of their party – the support of Zimbabweans.

There are those who argue that the MDC has no alternative to joining this government. What utter rubbish. The alternative is to continue the struggle for freedom, justice and democracy.  If the MDC leadership no longer has the stomach for the struggle it should say so. They should not tell people lies. None of their demands were met or will ever be met. Joining under such circumstances is capitulation.

No amount of spin or lies can cover that.

Nationalists who fought for Zimbabwe’s independence including Mugabe rejected solutions offered by successive white governments that fell far short of their core demands. Nobody said then that they had no alternative but to cave in. The alternative was to continue with the fight for African self-rule until it was achieved.

Mugabe is holding a big noose for Tsvangirai to put his head and neck through it. Then he will be throttled politically speaking. All for an empty title and trinkets. The GPS as it stands is a fatal trap set for the MDC. It will be incredible folly to walk right into it with eyes wide open. The Mugabe regime is at its weakest. It is barely surviving. Any opposition worth anything would hasten its quietus.

To throw it a lifeline while triggering your own demise would be an act of unbelievable stupidity.

(Source)