West tries to unite Zanu-PF rebels to bring down Mugabe from within

There is talk in today's Guardian that the UK and US governments are working to put a split between Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF by putting their support behind former army chief, Solomon Mujuru, who it is said could begin to curtail Mr Mugabe's power at a meeting this Thursday.

Mr Mugabe has already conceded defeat in his attempt to delay the next election until 2010 and now faces a fight to get Zanu-PF, which increasingly fears heavy defeat in a free election, to adopt him as its candidate in next year's presidential election.

Mr Mujuru's emissaries have been in talks with the main faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, who is strongly backed by the UK, over the creation of an interim power-sharing government that would sideline Mr Mugabe.

Under such an agreement, Zanu-PF leaders, including Mr Mugabe, would be granted amnesty from prosecution for past crimes such as the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s and more recent violence. Mr Tsvangirai would call for an immediate resumption of aid to revive Zimbabwe's crumbling economy.

Okay, so Mugabe is so weak within his own party that even he has conceded that he's probably not going to get his own party to accept him as their nominee for the next election, and that's the time for the US and UK to rally around Zanu-PF and offer Mugabe an amnesty?

Call me an idealist, but it doesn't look to me as if now is the time for Mugabe to demand anything, so why are we rushing to offer him so many concessions?

And why are we so keen to embrace the notion of an interim power sharing coalition between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change, rather than a government freely elected by the people?

The diplomatic moves are a reflection of the frustration in Whitehall and Washington at the vacuum left by a weak and divided political opposition.

"There is not much confidence in the opposition. It has let the people down at every turn. There's not much prospect of them winning an election while Mugabe's in power and fixing it," said a western diplomat.

Ah, so it's the opposition that has let the people down at every turn... What kind of skewered logic is this? Where we offer Mugabe amnesty and criticise the opposition for their failings?

The anonymous "western diplomat" gives us his reasoning:

"The feeling is that the way forward is a deal between those in Zanu-PF that want rid of Mugabe to try and save their party and those in the opposition prepared to work with them. It's the best way of bringing about swift change and if they can come to a deal, that changes everything. That is what we are working toward."

So we remove the head of the party whose rule has witnessed Zimbabwe's economic ruin but we keep the party itself in power, albeit if the new government includes some members of the MDC "prepared to work with" Zanu-PF?

This has colonialism written all over it. I know that this is Mugabe's favourite charge every time anyone questions his limitless power, but it's hard to deny that this is a case of putting practicality before principle.

But some of Mr Mugabe's other political opponents remain suspicious of Mr Mujuru. They believe that as one of Zimbabwe's richest people he is primarily interested in protecting his assets by ensuring that Zanu-PF does not fall with Mr Mugabe.

Arthur Mutambara, leader of the MDC faction that broke away from Mr Tsvangirai and has the support of about half the party's MPs, said that while he favoured a power-sharing transitional government he would not accept one based solely on an agreement between Zanu-PF and Mr Tsvangirai.

"We don't want that kind of nonsense. We want constitutional reform before free and fair elections. We don't want opportunistic alliances that don't provide a long term solution," Mr Mutambara said.

I find myself in agreement with Mutambara. I can see the logic - and, indeed, the desirability - in any arrangement that will remove Mugabe from power. However, he ruled with help of the Zanu-PF and I don't give a monkeys if a party that assisted him as he did so falls when that dictator falls.

There are times when it is right to put practicality before principle and this may very well be one of them, but it can only be done in order to assist in the removal of Mugabe and the formation of an interim government whose primary function should be the arranging of immediate fair and free elections.

It begins to feel as if the days of Mugabe's rule are drawing to a close. In our rush to get rid of him we must be very careful that we don't replace one undemocratic monster with another of our own choosing. That very British quality of embracing bureaucratic efficiency before unnecessary confrontation has caused Africa enough trouble in the past. We really don't want to go there again.

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Tags: Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Zanu-PF, MDC, Arthur Mutambara, Morgan Tsvangirai, Solomon Mujuru