"Zanu and the Mutambara group simply do not know what to do. If they agree to do what the region wants, they are dead in the water." Eddie Cross writing on his blog on the 21st November 2009 asserting that the MDC M is deliberately delaying the finalisation of the GPA talks.

This is an outrageously false comment about the MDC M which bears no relation to the facts.

We all in MDC M want the GPA implemented urgently and fully. We fully supported what the region asked for. I personally had a lengthy discussion with President Kabila’s principal advisor Mr Ilunga Ngandu on the 3rd November 2009 impressing on him the need to attend to all of the outstanding issues. My colleagues have done the same. I have been present in Cabinet and know what has been said by all of us there. Arthur Mutambara’s statement made when the disengagement started is a matter of public record. Indeed it was Mutambara who clearly articulated for the first time that the SADC communiqué issued in the January 2009 could not be ignored, something Zanu PF was trying to do.

And as for the allegations that MDC M are responsible for the delays since Maputo consider the following:

• That the MDC M returned home direct from the SADC Summit meeting held in Maputo, Mozambique on 29 October 2009 while the MDC-T went via South Africa and were not available in Zimbabwe until after the weekend. In the meantime, over the same weekend, the MDC M negotiators had to leave Zimbabwe to attend a prior engagement namely the Africa China Summit, in Sharm-el Sheick in Egypt.

• That the MDC M came back from Egypt on Monday night 2nd November 2009 and were available for negotiations on Tuesday 3rd November 2009 up until Sunday, 15th November 2009. Regrettably, both ZANU PF and MDC-T were not available, primarily because the latter had to attend to the funeral of the late John Nyamande the MDC T MP for Makoni West.

• On Monday 16 November 2009, the MDC M negotiators had to attend to government business in Brussels and in Tunis from Monday 16 November 2009 to Thursday 19 November 2009. They returned home on Thursday and they had been available for dialogue and they are still available for dialogue. They, in-fact, suggested that the negotiators have a retreat to concentrate on the negotiations from Friday 20 November 2009 to Monday 23 November 2009. Regrettably, MDC-T negotiators have been unavailable until today Monday the 23rd November 2009.

The outstanding issues are not MDC T’s concern alone but those of the MDC M (we too want our Governor sworn in etc) and largely of the people of Zimbabwe.

Many commentators have expressed concern regarding the MDC M’s involvement in the talks and the GPA since July last year. They have expressed frustration with the fact that the MDC M controls the balance of power and bemoan the “Proportional-Representation-system-type result” of the March 2008 election which has led to this. They bemoan that a little party like the MDC M which only secured some 8% of the vote should exercise this disproportionate power.

The irony is that it is one of the BENEFITS of a PR system that little parties often hold the balance of power and in so doing prevent the tyranny of the majority – Zimbabwe has had a Westminster system for so long that it just does not know how to handle a “PR type result” which was produced by the Westminster system last year. A Westminster System, ie non PR system, does not usually produce this type of result. As we know to our detriment in Zimbabwe during the last 40 years the Westminster system has allowed single parties to dominate Parliament and the country, often after obtaining a slim majority, with catastrophic consequences. But thank God the Westminster system threw up the PR type result last year it did last year – otherwise we would never have reached any type of agreement and the country would have continued its slide down towards Somalia.

I understand the frustration felt by some of my political friends in the MDC T when the MDC M has adopted an independent view in the talks. I have on occasions not agreed myself with some the stances adopted by my colleagues who have negotiated on behalf of the MDC M. But the fact remains that it has been as a result of those independent stances that deadlock in the talks has often been broken. It has often been as result of those independent stances that SADC leaders have realised that MDC T positions have had some merit and they have broken away from slavishly following the Zanu PF line.

One day people will begin to understand the critically important role that the MDC M has played since March 2008 in preventing Zimbabwe from being totally destroyed. It has managed to bridge the vast gulf between Zanu PF and MDC T and in doing so saved the country from complete and utter destruction. It continues to play this role – and this has been no better illustrated than in what has happened in the last few weeks. Aside from the institutional role the MDC M plays, Welshman Ncube’s close personal relationship with President Zuma (remember their children are married to each other – which makes Eddie Cross’ assertion that the MDC M is unhappy with what Zuma has pushed through all the more absurd) has played a key role in stiffening Zuma’s position to ensure that the GPA is fully implemented.

The statements issued last week by the MDC T and my old friend Eddie Cross are divisive. It just does not help our current situation to further divide. Scoring cheap political points does not help our nation. The statements issued last week are not only false but, more seriously, are destructive to the fragile process we are all in. Now is the time for statesmanship and conciliation if we are to move Zimbabwe ahead.

By David Coltart,

MDC Senator.

David Coltart has been a human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe since his return to the country in 1983. He was sworn in as Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in February 2009.