Tsvangirai begins 8 nation tour to re-engage with the West

By Tichaona Sibanda
8 June 2009

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai began his eight nation tour of Europe and the United States on Sunday by visiting the Netherlands. His three-week state visit will take him to France, Sweden, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and the US.

Tsvangirai told reporters after his first engagement in the Hague that he was seeking re-engagement with the west and not touring with a ‘begging bowl’ asking for aid.

‘I did not come here with a begging bowl. Re-engagement is a process. We have been isolated for the last 10 years and re-engagement means ... our cooperation partners need to understand what we are doing ... and we also have to understand the concerns of our partners,’ Tsvangirai said after meeting the Dutch Development Aid Minister Bert Koenders on Sunday.

According to reports, Koenders told Tsvangirai that the European Union wants to see real progress on human rights, reform at the central bank and the reining in of the security forces, before any aid would be resumed. The Dutch embassy had given Mr. Tsvangirai sanctuary last year at the height of the election violence.
On Monday, the Prime Minister held talks with his Dutch counterpart, Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende. The Dutch Prime Minister reiterated to Tsvangirai that Zimbabwe must adopt economic, political and social reforms before getting any additional aid from the Netherlands.

This is likely to be the response Tsvangirai will receive from all the countries he is visiting - that any future support to Zimbabwe will be based on significant reforms regarding human rights and security. The Dutch have long been a staunch supporter of human rights in the country and this year alone they have poured in US$21 million in emergency humanitarian aid.

Tsvangirai is still battling with Mugabe to try to force him to implement all the agreements the parties signed to, under the Global Political Agreement. But attempts by the MDC to scrap sweeping media and security laws to allow for freedom of expression and movement have made little headway. Tsvangirai acknowledged last week that hard-liners from ZANU PF were obstructing a return to the rule of law.
Just as he was on his first leg of the tour, his party issued a statement questioning Mugabe sincerity and commitment to the inclusive government.

‘The half-hearted are refusing to implement the Global Political Agreement to which they appended their signature. The half-hearted are delaying to swear in Senator Roy Bennett as deputy minister of Agriculture’.
The statement added; ‘The half-hearted are refusing to iron out the issue of provincial governors, ambassadors and permanent secretaries. The half-hearted are skirting the contentious issues of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana.’
In using the word half-hearted the MDC were referring to a Herald article on Monday which accused the MDC of being half- hearted.

Despite this MDC statement which clearly indicates that the unity government is still facing serious problems, Tsvangirai gave a press interview in which he played down the differences between the parties and insisted it was a workable arrangement.

He is leading a delegation that includes ministers from all the parties in the inclusive government, including Walter Mzembi the ZANU PF Tourism minister, who is not on the United States targeted sanctions list. The delegation will travel to the United States from the Netherlands where Tsvangirai is expected to meet President Barack Obama on Friday.

During his visit to Washington, he will also meet officials at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund before returning to Europe. Political analyst Isaac Dziya said it is highly unlikely that Tsvangirai will get any aid from his tour.

‘What he will get is sympathy and assurances that massive aid would be injected once the country reforms. It’s clear to everyone that there have been little reforms since the start of the inclusive government and this will work against Tsvangirai during his current tour,’ Dziya said.