"Third way" runs into criticism

Reviled by both sides of the political divide in Zimbabwe, sacked information minister Jonathan Moyo is back at the centre of controversy, promoting a "third way" to break the logjam between the ruling party and its main opposition. Moyo, the only independent candidate to win a seat in the parliamentary elections in March, argues that his United People's Movement (UPM) offers an alternative to ZANU-PF's 25-year grip on power, and the labour-backed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has lost three elections in a row since 2000, in ballots many regard as rigged. Although the initiative has stirred discussion in a country suffering triple-digit inflation, food shortages, savage unemployment and critical foreign exchange shortages, the debate remains coloured by the image of Moyo himself - first a staunch former critic of the government, then one of its most ardent ministers, now a new party leader. According to Moyo, the UPM is a "synthesis of the dialectic between ZANU-PF and the MDC", and an idea that has attracted disgruntled elements in both parties. The goals of the "third way" are to provide "a pragmatic ideological and policy alternative" for charting a way out of Zimbabwe's crisis, and to "succeed where the MDC has failed". "As a sunset political party going through an inevitably bitter [internal] succession struggle, ZANU-PF no longer has the capacity to govern, and govern well," Moyo told IRIN. The MDC, on the other hand, believes "it can come to power on the strength of protest votes produced by the ineptitude and brutality of the ZANU-PF", but had become "trapped by the web of protest politics". However, University of Zimbabwe political scientist John Makumbe commented that what Zimbabwe needed most at present was political dialogue between the MDC and ZANU-PF - not the introduction of more parties. "Currently there is so much polarisation in Zimbabwe, there can only be two horses in the political field, which are ZANU-PF and the MDC - there is no space for the so-called third way," said Makumbe. "Jonathan Moyo must not fool himself into thinking that he can win the people's support," Makumbe added. "His brutality against progressive forces, and his unbridled hate for opposition politicians, is well documented." As information minister for five years, Moyo was an abrasive defender of the government, and spearheaded the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act: legislation for controlling the media that has seen the arrest of more than 100 journalists and the closure of four private newspapers in the past four years. Moyo has, however, attracted audiences when he has spoken publically about the third way, winning applause, especially from college students. His willingness to stand up to ZANU-PF after being sacked in 2005 for his role in organising resistance to President Robert Mugabe's succession plans has earned him the admiration of some Zimbabweans. But for civil society activists and past opponents, like National Constitutional Assembly Chairman Lovemore Madhuku, the third way initiative is tainted by association with Moyo. "Little is known about it and if it is a credible movement at all, it can only succeed when reputable people take charge, and not the likes of Moyo - he has no credibility with the people, who justifiably dismiss him as a disillusioned former ZANU-PF die-hard," said Madhuku. Thokozani Sibanda, a civic activist, wondered aloud, "What is it that the MDC has failed to do, that Moyo and his UPM think they will achieve?"