The Insider

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Information Minister Jonathan Moyo were reported to be on their way out because of their involvement in the Tsholotsho Declaration which was meant to block Joice Mujuru from becoming vice-President, but Chinamasa had a better chance of surviving than Moyo.

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Former army commander Solomon Mujuru is reported to have told his arch-rival Emmerson Mnangagwa way back in 2004 that he would never be leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front as long as he was alive.

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Daily News chief executive officer Sam Sipepa Nkomo was optimistic, one year after his paper’s closure, that the paper could resume publication because the government seemed to be opening up the media space in the country but the United States embassy felt Nkomo was overly optimistic.

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The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front was in the driver’s seat and was going to win big either way- reflecting its calculation that most Southern African Development Community members would accept cosmetic reforms and a crushing victory for the party.

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Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who at the time was Speaker of Parliament, said although the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the Movement for Democratic Change were having amicable discussion on constitutional reform, the MDC had a history of agreeing on issues until the 11^th hour, when they would hold things up with additional demands.

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President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF secretary for external affairs Didymus Mutasa were adamant that there would be no Western observers in the 2005 elections while Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa said this would be decided by an independent election commission.

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The Movement for Democratic Change was reportedly preparing for the possibility of a guilty verdict on its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was facing treason charges for allegedly plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, but there appeared to be no concrete plans apart from boycotting the 2005 elections and proposed mass action.

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Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front had borrowed many of the electrical reforms for the 2005 elections from the MDC playbook but they still did not address the five conditions laid down by the MDC to participate in the elections.

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Factional squabbles were rampant within the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front but there was no support anywhere in the party for meaningful alteration of a rulebook that assured their party of electoral triumph.

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Many observers were abhorred at Movement for Democratic Change treasurer Roy Bennett’s behaviour when he floored two Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Ministers in Parliament but an equal number were proud of him, according to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks.

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