Opinion /
What should the West do about Zimbabwe?
12 Mar 2017 at 16:16hrs | Views
With scarcely 15 months to go before Zimbabwe's next elections, it seems that the Western world has no strategy to avert continued Zanu PF misrule. What's new, you may ask, and why are we singling out the Western world?
Well, it's because the other power blocks do have a strategy: it is to support Zanu PF. Our 'all-weather' friends China, Russia, the Middle East etc have no interest in promoting democracy in Zimbabwe. Neither does the South African government or Africa in general.
Witness Mugabe's zombie trip to Ghana for their 60th independence anniversary celebrations. Zimbabwe had no working planes so Mugabe hired one in Bahrain to take his usual '$5 million a time' retinue on a trip through which he slept most of the time. The Herald says the Ghanaians couldn't get enough of him – despite the disparaging comments he has made about their country.
What of the UN, can't they help? Does anyone seriously expect anything from this sclerotic talk shop? They will tut tut but tolerate Mugabe for ever as long as his violence doesn't get out of control (and his regular harangues to the General Assembly don't last too long). Anyway, getting the Security Council to do anything about Zimbabwe is impossible. It will always be vetoed by China or Russia.
So those hoping for change are looking to the West. But the outlook here is poor as well. Western countries must know that the next elections are going to be rigged. After all, most of them have embassies in Harare and their envoys can't spend all their time attending each other's national day festivities.
The opposition, civil society – and even expelled former Zanu PF leaders – have all explained how the elections will be stolen. The way it always has been. Morgan Tsvangirai spelt it out in detail this week.
Well, says the West, we will be stern and tell Mugabe to change his ways . . . And if Zanu PF steals the elections we will bleat loudly. But we won't break off diplomatic relations, stop aid money which props up the regime or even impose any more of those problematic sanctions.
So it will be business as usual, probably with Tsvangirai roped in again to do what the MDC have already shown they can do: revive the rapidly collapsing economy so that Zanu PF can get rid of them again.
As the French say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Source - ZimVigil
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