Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said President Robert Mugabe’s excuse that he could not swear in Roy Bennett as deputy Minister of Agriculture was a lame excuse because he, Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga had charges pending against them but they had been sworn in.
He said the Tsvangirai faction of the Movement for Democratic Change was justified in boycotting cabinet meetings, but MDC-M would attend to act as a check on ZANU-PF and prevent it from taking unwise decisions.
Mutambara said that there were ZANU-PF hardliners that wanted the government to fail, but that the three parties should work for its success.
He argued that Mugabe had not been legitimately elected, and that the legitimacy of the government rested on the Global Political Agreement.
If the MDC were to renounce the GPA and pull out of government, there would be no government and Mugabe would have no legitimacy as president.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE843, ENDING THE IMPASSE
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO7276
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0843/01 2951458
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 221458Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5054
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3109
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3222
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1649
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2483
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2852
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3270
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5717
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2402
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000843
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B.WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2019
SUBJECT: ENDING THE IMPASSE
REF: A) HARARE 832 B) HARARE 826
Classified By: CDA Donald Petterson for reason 1.4 (d)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (C) Next week in Harare will see a flurry of activity
aimed at ending the MDC’s “disengagement” from ZANU-PF and a
resumption of government under the Global Political Agreement
(GPA). Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who will return to
Harare on October 23 after meeting with regional leaders,
will meet with President Robert Mugabe and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara on October 26. On October 29, the
three principals and their GPA negotiators from the three
parties will meet with Southern African Development Community
(SADC) Troika representatives and a representative from South
Africa, the GPA facilitator. With both Mugabe and the MDC-T
interested in the survival of the GPA and pressure on Mugabe
from at least parts of SADC, compromise on the four
outstanding issues–the appointments of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes
Tomana, the swearing-in of Roy Bennett as Deputy Secretary of
Agriculture, and the appointment of provincial governors–and
an end to the current impasse is likely in the next couple of
weeks. END SUMMARY.
———————–
A Week of Disengagement
———————–
¶2. (C) After declaring that the MDC would disengage from
ZANU-PF (Refs), Tsvangirai traveled to South Africa and
onward to meet with SADC leaders and seek SADC pressure on
Mugabe to comply with the GPA. The MDC held a “Cabinet”
meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe
yesterday to discuss the impasse. Khupe told the Charge
today that the MDC remained solidly behind the policy of
“disengagement.” She noted that there were four outstanding
issues that formed the basis of the MDC pullout: the
appointments of Gono and Tomana in violation of the GPA,
Mugabe’s refusal to swear-in Roy Bennett as Deputy Secretary
of Agriculture, and Mugabe’s refusal to honor an agreement
made with Tsvangirai in June to swear-in provincial
governors. Khupe said that appointment of governors and
resolution of the Bennett issue would be enough for the MDC
to reengage; the removal of Gono and Tomana were part of a
“process” that the MDC would continue to pursue. Echoing
Tsvangirai (Ref A), Khupe said that if no agreement were
reached, the MDC would move for elections.
¶3. (C) For its part, ZANU-PF has so far been relatively
restrained. Columnists in The Herald have alleged that the
MDC action was precipitated because Bennett is white, and
that this demonstrates that the MDC is taking instructions
from the West. But leading ZANU-PF politicians, including
Mugabe, have not gone on the attack. And yesterday, The
Herald’s banner headline was “Tsvangirai still PM, says
Govt.” The accompanying article quoted Mugabe spokesman
George Charamba that Mugabe still considered Tsvangirai the
prime minister since Tsvangirai had not communicated anything
to the contrary. Mugabe presided over the weekly Cabinet
Qto the contrary. Mugabe presided over the weekly Cabinet
meeting on Tuesday without MDC-T ministers. According to a
ZANU-PF minister, quoted by The Herald, “It was business as
usual.”
——————-
MDC-M in the Middle
——————-
¶4. (U) MDC-M Deputy Prime Minister has tried to carve out a
HARARE 00000843 002 OF 003
role as mediator. He met with Mugabe on Monday and later in
the day spoke to Tsvangirai in South Africa urging
reconciliation. He later held a press conference in which he
blasted the rearrest of Bennett and the failure to swear him
in; he pointed out that he, Minister of Finance Tendai Biti,
and Minister of Constitutional Affairs Eric Matinenga all had
pending charges, yet had been sworn in. He said MDC-T was
justified in the action it had taken, but MDC-M would attend
Cabinet meetings to act as a check on ZANU-PF and prevent if
from taking unwise decisions. He asserted that there were
ZANU-PF hardliners that wanted the government to fail, but
that the three parties should work for its success.
Mutambara also argued that Mugabe had not been legitimately
elected, and that the legitimacy of the government rested on
the GPA. If the MDC were to renounce the GPA and pull out of
government, there would be no government and Mugabe would
have no legitimacy as president.
¶5. (C) Mutambara told us today he thought the issues of
appointment of governors and Roy Bennett should be easily
resolved. The appointments of Gono and Tomana were
problematic, however. While it was obvious, according to
Mutambara, that the appointments violated the GPA, Mugabe had
publicly stated he would not rescind them. Mutambara
suggested Tsvangirai would have to compromise. A longtime
critic of sanctions, he suggested that Tsvangirai call for
the removal of sanctions to get buy-in from Mugabe on
outstanding issues.
—————————–
Tsvangirai Seeks SADC Support
—————————–
¶6. (C) Over the last couple of days, Tsvangirai met with
presidents Guebuza of Mozambique and Zuma of South Africa.
Khupe, who had been briefed by Tsvangirai, said the meeting
with Zuma was positive. Zuma was concerned about spillover
effect from an unstable Zimbabwe for the World Cup in 2010
and took the position that Mugabe should comply with the GPA.
Guebuza, on the other hand, told Tsvangirai that the GPA
issues were internal, and that he and Mugabe should resolve
them. Tsvangirai is traveling to the Congo and Angola to
meet presidents Kabila and Dos Santos and will return Friday
to Harare.
¶7. (C) According to Mutambara and MDC sources, the three GPA
principals–Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and Mutambara–will meet
together on October 26. The same sources indicate the SADC
Troika of the Organ on Politics, Security and Defence
(Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia), accompanied by South
Africa as the GPA facilitator, will meet with the principals
and the GPA negotiators from the three parties on October 29
in Harare. (NOTE: Khupe told the Charge that she had met
with King Mswati of Swaziland and President Banda a couple
of weeks ago. She said they were very frustrated with Mugabe
and supportive of the MDC’s position on outstanding issues.
END NOTE.)
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶8. (C) With notable exceptions, Mugabe and most of ZANU-PF
Q8. (C) With notable exceptions, Mugabe and most of ZANU-PF
do not want the GPA to collapse and this is reflected in
their relatively restrained reaction to the MDC’s actions.
Mugabe believes he can maintain the balance of power within
the GPA, and that the collapse of the GPA could result in
chaos. The MDC has no Plan B except for elections and, if it
were to leave government, it is unclear how it could cause
elections to be held. The ultimate goal of the
MDC–successful elections–is best realized by remaining in
government. Therefore, once again, it is in the interest of
HARARE 00000843 003 OF 003
both sides to compromise.
¶9. (C) The most likely areas for compromise are the
appointments of governors and swearing-in of Bennett,
although ZANU-PF could drag this out until after his trial,
scheduled for November 9. Because of Mugabe’s public
pronouncements, rescission of the appointments of Gono and
Tomana will be more difficult. The key to a compromise will
be the ability of both sides to save face. Tsvangirai will
have to get something substantial, although not everything.
And Mugabe will have to get something. This could be a
statement by Tsvangirai that he supports the removal of
economic sanctions (read sanctions against banks and
parastatals, not against individuals), a position he and
Minister of Finance Tendai Biti have supported in private
conversations. An agreement is likely, and the Inclusive
Government will continue to function with incremental
progress. END COMMENT.
PETTERSON
(27 VIEWS)
