home > by publication type > podcasts > Prospects for Power Sharing in Zimbabwe
Email
| Interviewee: | Knox Chitiyo, Director, Africa program, Royal United Services Institute |
|---|---|
| Interviewer: | Stephanie Hanson, News Editor, CFR.org |
July 8, 2008
Since Zimbabwe's presidential election in March, widespread reports indicate senior army officers have led a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and its supporters. Knox Chitiyo, head of the Africa program at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies, says President Robert Mugabe and a small group of military officials are still running the country collaboratively. The security officers might agree to a power-sharing government, he says, but only if the opposition party were granted a junior role in the government. Chitiyo says they would never accept Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, as president.
Both the government and the opposition are resistant to negotiations, but Chitiyo says there is pressure on both sides. The government is on the brink of economic collapse, he says, and may soon be unable to pay the security forces—a result that would represent "a nighmare scenario for the state." The opposition, on the other hand, has no other options. "Like it or not, Tsvangirai will have to negotiate with Mugabe," Chitiyo says. The role of state officials in extreme violence has raised questions about justice and reconciliation under a transitional government. "If the price of peace is justice, it may be a price that has to be paid," he says. "I suspect most people would rather have peace at the moment than justice because the violence has just been so terrible."
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
I understand that I may access this podcast solely for my personal use. Any other use of the file and its content, including display, distribution, reproduction, or alteration in any form for any purpose, whether commercial, noncommercial, educational, or promotional, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner, the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information, write webmaster@cfr.org.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
