If all goes according to plan, the Members of Parliament who were elected in March will be sworn in today, and Parliament will open tomorrow. At five months after the fact, it’s tempting to think “finally,” with a sigh of relief that Zimbabwe’s legislature is kicking into gear at last.

But there’s the small problem of the 21 July Memorandum of Understanding, and this clause in particular:

The Parties shall not, during the subsistence of the Dialogue, take any decisions or measures that have a bearing on the agenda of the Dialogue, save by consensus. Such decisions or measures include, but are not limited to the convening of Parliament or the formation of a new government.

When we asked subscribers what they thought of Parliament opening this week, despite this provision in the MoU, many urged the MDC to boycott Parliament, abandon the talks, and go the route of civil disobedience. Others, however, were sceptical of this as a viable approach, and urged the MDC to go along with the opening of Parliament and let pressure mount on Mugabe from outside the country.

I’ve pasted below what Tsvangirai is being asked to concede to. As Prime Minister, Tsvangirai would be responsible for implementing the policies of a Cabinet he had not himself solely appointed. He and Mugabe would have to agree on the composition of Cabinet – and if they disagreed? It’s unclear how that deadlock would be broken. Tsvangirai would be able to recommend disciplinary measures – but not necessarily enact them. He could advise the President on appointments, but it would be Mugabe who made the final decision.

Would you sign?

Role of the Prime Minister

1. Cabinet is the organ of state that carries the principal responsibility of formulating and implementing the government policies agreed to in the Global Agreement. The Executive Authority of the Inclusive Government resides in the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
2. The Prime Minister is a member of Cabinet and its Deputy Chairperson. In that regard he carries the responsibility to oversee the formulation of policies by the Cabinet.
3. The Prime Minister must ensure that all the policies so formulated are implemented in accordance with the programme developed by the Ministries and agreed to in Cabinet.
4. In overseeing the implementation of the agreed policies, the Prime Minister must ensure that the state has sufficient resources and appropriate operational capacity to carry out its functions effectively. Accordingly, the Prime Minister will necessarily have to ensure that all state organs are geared towards the implementation of the policies of the inclusive government.
5. The President and the Prime Minister will agree on the allocation of Ministries between them for the purpose of day-to-day supervision.
6. The Prime Minister must ensure that the legislation necessary to enable government to carry out its functions is in place. In this regard, he carries the responsibility of conducting the business of Government in Parliament.
7. The Prime Minister also advises the President on key appointments the President is required to make under and in terms of the Constitution or any Act of Parliament.
8. The Prime Minister can make recommendations on such disciplinary measures as may be necessary
9. The Prime Minister shall serve as a member of the National Security Council and this will ensure his participation in deliberations on matters of national security and operations pertaining thereto.
10. As the work of the Inclusive Government evolves, the President or Cabinet may assign such additional functions as are necessary further to enhance the work of the inclusive government.
11. The Prime Minister shall report regularly to the President.

I’ve just come from the bank, where the whole queue was talking about prices. The cash withdrawal limit in Zimbabwe has been raised to $300 (which would have been $3 trillion before 10 zeros were lopped off last month). This is, at least, a marked improvement over $10 ($100 billion), which it was for several weeks before that.

But ever since Gono chopped them off, the the zeros have been racing to catch up. As my colleague put it, they’re Olympic runners and they’re coming back fast and furious. Yesterday’s commuter omnibus fare into town was $40 ($400 billion) in the morning – by the time of the evening commute home again it had gone up to $60 ($600 billion).

It’s the same in the shops – it’s as if, now that prices are in hundreds, instead of trillions, there is license to double and treble prices daily – because things suddenly sound so cheap! Zimbabwe’s inflation is now 11.2 million percent per year (officially – independent bankers peg it at closer to 20 million). Imagine how many times in a year you’d have to double the prices of something to have it end up two hundred thousand times as expensive at the end of the year as it was to begin with.

My bank queue wasn’t the only group noticing this – a comment we received from a subscriber today notes similarly:

The recent pricing of commodities and services as well has sent the majority running short of superlatives to describe the situation. It can be argued following the mid-year monetary policy announcement by the Reserve Bank Governor, prices started to increase astronomically. The monetary statement among other things increased maximum withdrawal to $3 trillion from $100 billion, slashed ten zeros which he argued for convenience sake and also re-introduced old coins as part of empowerment. This acted as a catalyst for price hikes by unscrupulous business people who are taking advantage of the situation. Surprisingly, the NIPC (National Incomes and Pricing Commission) is watching as the madness continues. Its credibility as a commission is now questionable.

Zimbabwe’s negotiations feel like they’re coming off a Beckett script – going from the ridiculous to the absurd. A recent sketch by Alex Magaisa sums it up better than any news report could – not that you can believe news reports anyway . . .

Prudence: Karigamombe has fallen! Did you hear?

Funny: Are you sure? Who said that?

Reason: You are so yesterday, my friend! It’s everywhere! Everyone is saying Karigamombe fell last night. You are the only one in Jerusalem who does not know what has happened!

Funny: You talk too much, guys. But tell me, where are we right now?

Prudence: Is that not obvious? I thought you are the one who called and said let’s meet paKarigamombe? That’s why we are here and now you ask where are we? Trying to run away from the issue, are we?

Funny: So, tell me my friends, if Karigamombe fell last night, as you say you have seen everywhere, on TV, on the Internet, from friends and impeccable sources, when exactly did Karigamombe rise again? Because, as you yourself have just said, we are here at Karigamombe. Or is it a modern-day miracle, that Karigamombe fell just last night and has now risen so swiftly?

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If the rumours swirling round the press are anything to be believed, Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and Robert Mugabe are on the verge of signing a power sharing agreement between Zanu PF and the two formations of the MDC.

If these rumours are true, I’m impressed by both the speed with which the negotiations have proceeded, and the fact that the talks stalled as infrequently as they reportedly did.

I haven’t seen the reported 50-page draft of the agreement. And perhaps the whole story is yet another fabrication for the press. But if the contents of what is signed resembles what The Star’s Fiona Forde is reporting, I have some deep misgivings.

Some key points of the proposed agreement include:

• Morgan Tsvangirai to be appointed as a Senator and then to take up the role of Executive Prime Minister
• Robert Mugabe to be President – with a position-for-life of Founding President, (if and) when he retires
• Blanket amnesty for all Zimbabweans “who in the course of upholding or opposing the aims and policies of the Government of Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF or either formation of the MDC, may have committed crimes within Zimbabwe.”

Apparently the time frame is still at issue – the MDC envisages a 24-30 month time frame – which may make this arrangement feel like a long transition, but importantly, it’s a transition nonetheless. Zanu PF, on the other hand, is reportedly arguing for a 5 year time frame – this doesn’t make it a transitional arrangement, it makes it the duly constituted government until the next scheduled elections in 2013.

I’m a bit more at ease if, indeed, this is a temporary measure, with the promise of a transitional Constitution, but I still believe that the political parties are negotiating away certain fundamental issues, without opening up the debate to public discussion and input.

One of my colleagues in civil society recently wrote in an email discussion forum:

If the Zimbabwean citizenry vote in a government and a political party, and most of those in civics voted in that party, and then the outgoing party refuses to leave, why do the civics do anything but support the party that they voted in?

But to me that question is missing the point. These negotiations aren’t moving towards simply installing the party which most Zimbabweans voted for in the March Harmonised Election into power. They’re moving towards some form of negotiated settlement – about which there has been no election. Zimbabweans haven’t voted for who they’d want in a “coalition government” or whether they’d prefer a Government of National Unity as opposed to a Transitional Authority, or how they’d want such an arrangement to be structured.

And Zimbabweans certainly haven’t voted for a blanket amnesty for all political crimes – from Gukurahundi onwards. To paraphrase Spinoza, “peace is not the absence of war, it’s the presence of justice.” Zimbabwean analyst Knox Chitiyo may be willing to make the long-term sacrifice of justice for the short-term promise of peace, but is the rest of the country?

According to Forde, MDC and Zanu PF to divide key ministries – reportedly Zanu PF to take Defence, and the MDC to take Home Affairs. This, she speculates, would make campaigning in the next election more even: with control of Home Affairs, the MDC would have control of the police force, which would enable them to guarantee greater civic freedoms to demonstrate and assemble. But what about the role which the army has played in clamping down on public protest and gatherings? Not to mention groupings like the so-called war veterans and youth militia. And what about other basic rights like press and broadcast freedom?

Where is the referendum on these issues – and the independent body to oversee such a referendum to ensure that it was not subject to the same electoral machinery that Zimbabwe’s recent elections have suffered from? Where is the process for developing a new Constitution for Zimbabwe – not just the 19th Amendment, which would be required to, for example, (re)create the position of Prime Minister and define the roles of the Executive President?

As Mukoma Wa Ngugi wrote recently:

A power-sharing agreement that brings about a “Government of National Unity,” or a transitional authority, will in fact be undermining the most basic and important principle of democracy: the vote.

I highly recommend the work of Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah for anyone wanting a refreshing, honest take on life, politics and everything in between.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Morgan Richard Tsvangirai held hands. Mugabe grinned. Tsvangirai grinned. Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara grinned. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki grinned. They all grinned and were happy together. It is surreal, this orgy of grinning, this sudden, blinding flashing of teeth: barely a month ago the pictures of torture camps filled television and computer screens, photographs of burnt bodies illustrated the stories of horror from Zimbabwe.

She writes, in her recent sobering and though provoking piece on the Memorandum of Understanding and inter-party dialogue. On her blog, she recently published John Eppel’s short story – Boys will be boys – a truth is stranger than fiction account of the petty squabbling reportedly happening behind the scenes at the interparty negotiations.

We made the story available to our SMS subscribers recently, and one wrote in:

Well, if indeed it is true that the inter-party talks have degenerated into a war about mini-bars and who has the best rooms, then God help us. Why would we, claiming to represent the wishes of the people, stoop so low? The people back home sleep on rumbling empty stomachs and our leaders fight over the fat of the land. The people back home sleep in overcrowded one roomed shacks and yet our leaders see sense in fighting over who has the better room. The people back home only have darkness as their best view thanks to ZESA blackouts and our leaders haggle over who has a better view of the magnificent terrain. That is the sad reality about power. Once our leaders begin to taste good things as is the case now, there is no telling what lies ahead of us after these talks. The gloves are off and we now see the true colours of our erstwhile leaders. For them it’s about fame, glory, power, prestige, and money. I mean, does it matter to our leaders that people died for the cause of democracy? What are the families of the deceased meant to think when they hear that the democracy their loved ones died for is now the flip side of a coin that has “bedroom suites, minibars, topless waiters etc” on the other side? We have betrayed the martyrs of the struggle. Surely, they turn in their graves in regret.

God help us indeed.

WOZA’s courage and conviction continue to inspire Zimbabweans – including poet John Eppel who recently wrote a Song for WOZA.

This week, 300 members of WOZA and MOZA (Women / Men of Zimbabwe Arise) marched through the streets of Bulawayo without police interference – a welcome change from the 8 March International Women’s Day protest at which women were brutalised by riot police in Bulawayo. This week’s demonstration is also the first protest since the 28 May protest in Harare that resulted in 14 members being incarcerated in remand prison for several weeks.

According to WOZA, this week’s action aimed to draw politicians’ attention to “bread and roses” issues – bread representing food and roses representing the need for lasting dignity. The protest also sought to test the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed by Zimbabwe’s politicians to determine whether freedoms of expression and assembly truly have opened up.