After the June 27, 2008 putsch by Robert Mugabe, signs were always there that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were headed for surrender. It officially happened on January 30 when the party hoisted a white flag on top of its Harvest House headquarters.
What followed was a pathetic attempt by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to portray this decision to join the unity government, without any of their conditions being met, as some sort of victory.
Equally pathetic was the MDC's plea to Mugabe to be treated as an equal partner. There is a fat chance of that happening. The old tyrant must have chuckled when he heard this.
What the MDC has done goes beyond naivete and lack of strategic nous. It is an ineptitude breathless in its magnitude.
Besides guaranteeing an inevitable demise of the party as a political force, it has more importantly set back for many years the struggle for the democratic transformation of Zimbabwe. It threw a lifeline to a vile regime that
was on the verge of death.
Mugabe and Southern African Development Community leaders were desperate for the MDC to join the unity government to save the Zimbabwe leader from an ignominious downfall.
Tsvangirai had a big bargaining chip in his hand. He did not use it. He could not even get Mugabe to concede on modest and reasonable demands. On the basis of mere promises from a man who honours them more in their breach than observance, he joined the unity government.
The damage was done on September 11, 2008 when the MDC signed an agreement that legitimised Mugabe's coup d'etat.
Before that the MDC had maintained that a unity government had to reflect the wish of the people as expressed in the March 29, 2008 election. The MDC won that election at all levels of government. This meant the party and its leader had to be top dogs in a unity government.
The reality is that they have been co-opted as junior partners on its margins. Tsvangirai is not even second to Mugabe. He comes fourth after Joseph Msika and Joice Mujuru, the two vice-presidents.
Even more critical, all executive power is vested in Mugabe as head of government and state. Tsvangirai is a prime minister without any executive power. He is a glorified cabinet minister. The only power he will exercise is to give Mugabe names of MDC ministers.
Once the MDC conceded the presidency to Mugabe, ignoring the expressed wishes of the electorate, it was on a slippery slope to capitulation. Now the party is at the mercy of Mugabe. All talk by Tsvangirai of outstanding matters being resolved before he is sworn in on February 11 is deceitful.
There will be no more concessions from Mugabe. Tsvangirai has
made his bed and Mugabe will ensure that he lies in it.
All five conditions for joining government, that the MDC spelled out in official resolutions, have not been met. As stated above, Mugabe refused to yield an inch when Tsvangirai was in a strong bargaining position.
What chance is there for him to make any concession when Tsvangirai has no single card to play? A statement announcing the MDC's decision claimed that this represented a transition to democracy.
"This inclusive government will serve as a transitional authority leading to free and fair elections", it said.
A transition to free and fair elections in a government dominated by Mugabe is a classic oxymoron. Who will guarantee that, whenever elections are held, Mugabe will break with tradition and allow people to choose their leaders freely?
Where in the agreement does it say elections will be held after a stipulated transitional period? It only refers to a review of the agreement after the adoption of a new constitution without committing to an election.
It is up to Mugabe to decide how long this government lasts. He will tolerate the MDC for as long as he needs to. When it is surplus to requirements he will, through an election that he controls, get rid of them.
A conclusion to draw from all of this is that the MDC decided to join the unity government for two reasons. First, it no longer has the stomach to fight Mugabe.
Fear and fatigue have taken their toll. There is no more fuel in the tank. Refusal to join the unity government would certainly have been followed by a massive crackdown against the party.
Surrender was the best form of defence.
Secondly, the MDC leadership was seduced by the material comforts of office. Better a large air-conditioned office than a communal cell in Chikurubi prison, Mugabe's notoriously filthy jail on the outskirts of Harare.
It will be a busy time for Tsvangirai while Mugabe still needs him. Armed with a diplomatic passport, his first and most important task will be to travel to Western capitals to get sanctions against Mugabe and his cronies lifted.
Tsvangirai had a good chance to ascend to the presidency of the country and change Zimbabwe for the better. He threw that chance out of the window on January 30.
Nine years of struggle by the MDC have come to nought. The buck stops with Tsvangirai. In a most perverse way, he became Mugabe's saviour at a moment of near-death for the despot.
[Abridged from an article which first appeared in Pambazuka News http://www.pambazuka.org/en.]