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When Tsvangirai met the ZCTU

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08 October 2008

It was back to basics for MDC President and Zimbabwe Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai when he was subjected to intense interrogation by members of the ZCTU General Council who had wanted to get it from the horse's mouth on why he had agreed to sign a political settlement deal with Zanu PF.

For more than an hour and a half, members of the General Council had time to seek clarification on a number of issues, including the deliberate omission of Zimbabwe's nagging political issues such as the Gukurahundi massacres, Operation Murambatsvina and the post election violence after the March 29 Harmonised elections which Zanu PF convincingly lost to Tsvangirai's MDC.

According to sources who were in the meeting, Tsvangirai is said to have been surprised that ZCTU was concerned that issues of tripartism had been relegated to a sectoral level with political parties playing a leading role.

In the past, tripartism has always played a pivotal role in issues of governance but of late the government has always tried to impose itself on both labour and business, co-partners in the Tripartite Negotiating Forum.

Other issues which were raised by labour included the deal's deafening silence on the Gukurahundi massacres in which the government butchered more than 20 000 unarmed and defenceless civilians for allegedly supporting the then opposition Zapu.

Members of the General Council also wanted to know why Tsvangirai had not listened to their voice reason, not to sign the deal as it was highly tilted against the MDC.

In his response, Tsvangirai is said to have told the General Council that MDC as a political party had decided to go into an agreement with Zanu PF as a compromise.

“Yes the document is not the best we can deliver to the people of Zimbabwe. It was a compromise document where we had to forgo a number of our demands for the sake settling the political impasse,” Tsvangirai is said to have told the General Council.

After the deliberations, the two sides agreed to disagree on the deal, with ZCTU insisting that the deal was reflective of the wishes of the people.

The ZCTU also told Tsvangirai that it would consider the government as a temporary stop-gap measure which would ultimately lead the country into free and fair elections whose outcome would be acceptable to all Zimbabweans and the international community.

Speaking to The Worker in an exclusive interview after the meeting, Tsvangirai said issues which were raised by ZCTU were genuine, but the MDC had to go into the deal to correct the imbalances and create a free and fair environment which would result in a free and fair poll.

“We are mindful and fully aware that most of our members are drawn from the ZCTU structures. MDC was formed on the foundations of labour principles but now it has become a broad church. We have said to the General Council that we will go and deliberate on the concerns raised,” said Tsvangirai, adding that Zimbabweans should be assured that he had not lost the principles of labour which had nurtured him over the years.

His parting shot was, “ Zimbabweans should not lose hope as their party, the MDC promises to deliver and make the deal work.”

Whether Tsvangirai's promise should be put to taste by the millions of suffering Zimbabweans who have had to endure more than 12 years of continued economic decline, is anything to go by, time will tell.-The Worker.

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