Nederlands Instituut voor Meerpartijendemocratie
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Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe programme aims to foster democratic dialogue between the political opposition parties (MDC Tsvangirai and MDC Mutambara), ZANU-PF and Zimbabwean civil society.
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Overview
The Zimbabwe programme aims to foster democratic dialogue between the political opposition parties (MDC Tsvangirai and MDC Mutambara), ZANU-PF and Zimbabwean civil society. Through partnerships with the Zimbabwe Institute (ZI) and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), the programme supported the SADC dialogue by providing the financial support and facilitating expert knowledge and confidence-building mechanisms. The dialogue reached agreements on electoral legislation and constitutional reform.
Supported by NIMD, ZI focuses on advocacy for the return of democracy and a peaceful transition in Zimbabwe. ZI has facilitated the two opposition parties in the SADC dialogue process, which culminated in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) last year, and produced a number of critical studies and policy documents (such as on the restart of the economy), which are used in the implementation of the agreement.
More information
Political parties in parliament
• Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (PF)
• Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC)
• Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara (MDC)
Key political events
• Failure of the dialogue process between ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). During this process, which was initiated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in June 2007, the parties decided on a six-point agenda, which included a new interim constitution, new electoral legislation, security legislation and media legislation. However, the unilateral decision by Mugabe to organize elections on 29 March 2008 made it impossible to implement any of the changes agreed in the talks and caused the dialogue to break down.
• ZANU-PF Extraordinary Congress confirmed Mugabe as its presidential candidate (14 December). This resulted in the group around Makoni running as an independent faction.
Key achievements
• Coalition between two MDC factions. Although the dialogue between the two MDC factions did not lead to a reunification in early 2008, an agreement on a common SADC negotiation position was successfully reached and an effective coalition was formed during the negotiations.
• Enhanced profile of political opposition. Due to their professionalism in the negotiating process, the political opposition managed to enhance their profile internationally and strengthened their relations with the South African government.
• Groundwork for transitional constitution and agenda. The agreements reached in the negotiations that broke down will certainly come back to the table once the transition to the post-Mugabe era sets in.
Lessons learned
• SADC’s inability to leverage its influence on the Zimbabwe government in order to implement the outcome of the SADC-facilitated dialogue.
• The ongoing economic, social and political disintegration of Zimbabwe, coupled with internal divisions between and within the ZANU-PF and MDC parties, has caused survival strategies to dominate political interactions, at the expense of a focus on policy development to address the deepening crises.
Priority for 2008
• Redefining the strategy on the basis of the outcome of the elections, and implementing a transition agenda to the extent that circumstances allow at that point in time.
Key partners
• Zimbabwe Institute (ZI)
• Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA)
