A third way solution to Zimbabwe's political crossroads

At its recent consultative meeting in Huddersfield, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe Peoples Movement (ZPM) realised that a fragmented challenge to the present Zimbabwe political situation has proved ineffective and now advocate for an electoral alliance taking the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc in the form of an association of political parties or individuals to stand in the forthcoming elections. Each of the parties within the alliance will have its own policies, but will choose temporarily to put aside differences in favour of common goals and ideology. To have a strong coalition it is necessary that political parties must moderate their ideologies and programme. On occasion, an electoral alliance may be formed by parties with very different policy goals, who agree to pool resources in order to stop a particular candidate or party from regaining power.

Unlike a coalition formed after an election, the partners in an electoral alliance will usually not run candidates against each other, and will encourage their supporters to vote for candidates from the other members of the alliance. They will usually, but not inevitably, aim to continue co-operation after the election, for example by campaigning together on issues on which they have a common viewpoint.

The benefits that flow from this arrangement include:
• Being more consensus-based thereby resulting in policies broadly approved of.
• Better representation of the electorate's wishes and creation of a platform for the voiceless to have a say on issues that directly affect them.
• Better quality of policy; enhanced scrutiny and increase attention paid to each policy
• Increased continuity; election dose not lead to dramatic overhaul which can produce fragmented rule.
• Allowance of national healing process and building of a solid foundation for economic growth, through;
• Proper redress of the issues affecting the polarised masses;
• Total eradication of corruption and nepotism by retraining all law enforcement agencies which include the police the army, the air force, the intelligence organisations and all related agencies.
• Creation of a conducive and fair negotiation atmosphere for all interested parties and stake holders.
• A coalition of opposition parties can win on more fronts than a single party approach and increase potential for success through increased impact from each party.

We ZPM presently living in Zimbabwe and in the Diaspora, united in our firm rejection of domination and oppression, and inspired by our firm commitment to our freedom and independence, desiring to build a nation that celebrates diversity, and committed to building a united political front to challenge and remove all our political ills and uphold our cherished ideals such as political commitment to foster the establishment of a truly open, free, libertarian, equal-opportunity, and reconciled society. The success or failure of this project will depend on the goodwill and political responsibility of all stakeholders.

Since independence in 1980 Zimbabwe has experienced a troubled history that has been characterised by power struggles and violent conflicts that reflect in the current political instability, economic marginalisation and dire poverty. Zimbabwe is currently facing enormous governance, economic and social crisis that destroyed much of what Zimbabweans have achieved since our national independence 30 years ago and the gains made during the current GNU. Throughout the election landscape of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, statistics have revealed that despite Zanu PF and Mugabe being declared winners against the fragmented and token challenges by the opposition. Had a well-orchestrated amalgamation of opposing parties combined forces with apathetic voters/ marginal voters, then a new result landscape would be written, barring any rigging by the regime. Of particular significance was the 2008 election which raised the international community's awareness of peoples of Zimbabwe's preferences in both the parliamentary and presidential elections. Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai won 99 seats representing 47.83% of the votes cast, Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) won 97 seats representing 46.86%, Movement for Democratic Change - Mutambara) won 10 seats representing 4.83% and Independent (Jonathan Moyo) 1 seat representing 0.48%.In the presidential vote the leader of Movement for Democratic Change â€" Tsvangirai polled a record 1 195 562 47 representing 87% of the votes cast while Mugabe, Robert Gabriel of Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front polled 1 079 730 43 representing 24% of same.

The Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai (MDC-T) objected to the results claiming that, according to their projections their candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, had won outright (AFP 2008). However, on 22 June 2008 Morgan Tsvangirai (2008) declared that he was withdrawing from the election because he believed that a free and fair election was not possible in the climate of state sponsored violence that prevailed in the run-up to the election. Furthermore, had Tsvangirai contested on a coalition ticket he could have easily mobilized people against the rigged results, and probably activated other contingency plans, e.g. civil disobedience

In parliamentary democracies, coalition governments are common, and single party majority governments are relatively rare. In 313 elections in 11 European democracies between 1945 and 1997 only 20 elections returned a single party with more than half of all seats in parliament. But coalitions can form both ex ante (before elections) and ex post (after elections). A study of 364 elections in 23 advanced parliamentary democracies between 1946 and 2002 found 240 instances of pre-electoral agreements. We will coordinate electoral strategies with other stakeholders as part of a pre-electoral coalition.

The National Rainbow Coalition (National Alliance of Rainbow Coalition - NARC) was a coalition of Kenyan political parties in power from 2002 and 2005 when it fell apart in a controversy between its wings about a constitutional referendum. The United Democratic Front (UDF) was one of the most important anti-apartheid organisations of the 1980s. The non-racial coalition of about 400 civic, church, students', workers' and other organizations (national, regional and local) was formed in 1983, initially to fight the just-introduced idea of the Tricameral Parliament (the parliament was put in place in 1984 with the election of P. W. Botha of the National Party. Its slogan, "UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides" reflects the Front's broad support (about 3 million members).

The transition from an unjust society to a just society will be a difficult one as we attempt to mobilise a political movement which unites individuals, groups, organizations and political forces of Zimbabwe into one united political front for the political emancipation through peaceful political means. Sadly "unprincipled" political coalitions, which have resulted in political opportunism and short-term political manoeuvring, have also been created. In many of these countries there has been a tendency for political parties to coalesce in order to serve particular short-term interests of the key players involved. As ZPM is aware of such serious challenges and shortcoming, we will endeavour to 'be above board' and look at things with a great deal of ethics, commitment and focus. We are strongly convinced that political party coalitions, alliances or even political alignments and cooperative agreements will continue to significantly direct the politics in the continent in general and Zimbabwe is no exception.

We envisage engaging in a forum that will involve leadership in which leaders of the various political parties in and outside Zimbabwe will examine the practicalities and their responsibilities in coalition formation. Political party representatives will be expected to provide comparative perspectives on topics such as ideologies of political parties in the formation of coalitions, policy frameworks used for implementation and other aspects involved. We hope to vigorously engage all stakeholders in an effort to convince them on the need for a united front although a lot of collective bargaining/ negotiation, haggling, compromise, position and paradigm shifts is expected to pose serious challenges.

Cooperation is key for the success of the coalition because competition between them can displace cooperation usually leading to the demise of the coalition before the pre-determined goals are achieved, thus being consigned into 'paper coalition'. The problem that faces coalitions is not how to eliminate contestation and disagreement but rather to understand how these can be harnessed and directed and directed away from an unrelenting emphasis on division and separation and steered toward the establishment and pursuit of shared political objectives.

The run-up to the election is bound to be controversial with the opposition complaining that the head of the country's Electoral Commission is acting solely in the interest of President Mugabe, against the background of an unfinished constitutional redrafting process thereby increasing the probability of threat to the whole process. There is a serious concern shared among development actors that sustainable development cannot be achieved under these conditions. The environment within which NGOs/Civil Society groups are operating is becoming increasingly restrictive. Subsequently, a number of opposition parties may boycott the process, which is likely to hand Mugabe and the ruling Zanu (PF) a landslide victory.

All Zimbabwe stakeholders including political party leaders, election authorities, and representatives of civil society, the private sector, media and the international community committed to peaceful elections should work to ensure that the remaining months of the political campaigns are conducted peacefully and to refrain from any intimidation or violence on Election Day. All stakeholders should engage in preliminary discussions to establish common ground before the elections day. We strongly believe that the role of the international community is crucial to catalyse this process by any means possible including logistical support.

ZPM believes in a multi-party system, which strives in a matured democratic environment but our situation is different, as our democracy is still at its infancy.