Is a commonsense approach to politics possible?

A FUNNY thing is happening in Zimbabwean politics. The fiercest battle is no longer between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition MDC. The MDC, notorious for playing to its hard anti-Mugabe base, has started reaching across the aisle, with its conciliatory stance on Amendment No 18 Bill and its new push for a diplomatic strategy toward Zanu PF, in particular, and the Zimbabwe situation, in general.

In short, some sanity may actually be returning to Zimbabwean politics, at least back home. Perhaps the most interesting development is the belated realisation by the MDC that its insistence on an MMG ('Mugabe Must Go') policy, without offering real alternatives, will not yield any real benefits.

But the predominant political reaction to this modest outbreak of common sense by the MDC has been virulent opposition from hardline supporters, and extreme elements, of the MDC and harsh critics of Mugabe.

The 'true' believers in the MDC founding principles are furious that their leadership might be compromising too much, and giving in to Zanu PF’s political muscle.

Our political leaders have realised that the winner of the March 2008 election, if it goes ahead, is going to need friends across the aisle -- not least to get out of current economic problems -- and should make a point of finding something to praise in the other party's platform.

Conspicuous in Zimbabwe politics today is a need to work together. Politicians who think we need bargaining to fix the crises we face in Zimbabwe now appear side by side with a 'friend' from the other party. Tsvangirai and the Retired General, in their common quest for power and absolute power respectively, are true manifestations of this backlash.

Political vitriol

And as for the rest of us in the Diaspora, we can't boast about such successes, not much sanity has returned. We are still consumers of a heavy diet of political vitriol perpetuated by 'campaign publishers'. Frankly, we are still inundated with under-researched political garbage. Every time we read an attack, on Mugabe, Tsvangirai or Mutambara, or any other political commentator for that matter, we can’t shoot -- nor at least spam -- the messenger.

In the diaspora, the political and media attack industry has hijacked the calmer, blander beat of non-partisanship so crucial to the development of Zimbabwe.

Online and in the blogosphere, mercilessly pillorying people we don’t agree with is a full-time sport, indicating the infantile and zygotic stages of an impending society's moral and political decay. Vitriolic websites are the haploid spermatozoon and the naive reader is the ovum.

Pius Ncube is labelled a "heretic" or "infidel" by many a website before the full legal process has done the three-sixty. Heretic? Infidel? Sounds like the Spanish Inquisition.

Our misplaced hormonal response to the crises in the country makes us shoot at the wrong target. "Send those kids back home to suffer," is our 'solution'. Well, not mine. We have seen a malignant rehash of this clarion call a few days ago. We quickly respond by trying to purge those who do not think like us. Is an angry society a healthy one? Take a pill. Try yoga. Hold the vitriol.

Social spaces are now used to publicly embarrass, humiliate, or otherwise in an egregious manner, reduce the reputation of, our fellow Zimbabweans.

Political processes are, by their very nature, slow processes. Signs of frustration abound, yet we should all maintain our sanity. The Arab-Israeli conflict is entering its ‘Ruby Anniversary’. Change is an organic process which cannot be forced or accelerated. Successes in the conflict-ridden Irish lands were scored, only recently, after decades of senseless infighting.

Slanderous, outrageous lies constitute an unprecedented new low in our quest for a free and democratic Zimbabwe. Tribal-baiting, hateful comments intended to forcibly impose ways of thinking, will mitigate against the successes which could be scored in the process.

The creators of the vitriolic hate pieces not only slander fellow Zimbabweans, but that of well-respected political leaders who sacrificed their lives in the liberation struggle. Some of the owners of these sites were not even conceived when the struggle began and ended.

Cyber-lynching has put us on a slippery slope and is likely to threaten the creation of a sensible political culture of tolerance and commonsense, vital for our political, social and economic sustenance.

Lloyd Msipa

The attack on Lloyd Msipa -- on one slanderous, disingenuous website -- is filled with manifestations of the rise of morally decadent and decaying individuals, amongst us. Intentionally attributing false, inflammatory and libellous information to someone goes beyond negative campaigning. This is not free speech – it’s slander and it’s a legal offence. It won’t achieve the intended effects. It’s degrading and takes to the dumps those who promote it.

Unfortunately, we live in a world in which a person of good reputation can be attacked by persons of ill repute, who have established a reputation for slander and lies, and people will actually take these attacks seriously and believe them.

What all of this means is that too many people, in their zeal to bring down President Mugabe, are aligning themselves with the most radical fringe elements in our society and ignoring the damage this could do to our country in future. Other communities look at us and question our judgment and our ability to do what has to be done to win a long and difficult struggle that must be fought in many places and in many ways.

Internet-based publications like The Zimbabwe Guardian are wading in to call for a truce, only to get lambasted themselves.

"Polite" and "politics" share so many consecutive letters, yet the two remain far too divergent in all other respects. They don't have to be mutually exclusive. We should all talk politics, and often, but should remember to do so with civility and respect otherwise politics will completely suck the oxygen out of us..


Haiwa zvakaoma zveZimbabwe!