Those were the words of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai referring to a recent visit to Harare by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The leader came to Zimbabwe last week to discuss trade and cooperation agreements with President Robert Mugabe, who himself has been a target of international sanctions.
Despite being thousands of miles from each other, the two countries share similar political and economic challenges that can be addressed through similar approaches. In the wake of the unrest following presidential elections in each country, civil society has operated under tighter control with limited political space to promote constitutional reform and hold government accountable for achieving economic and social priorities.
In the midst of severe economic crises, the political legitimacy of the governments largely rests on its ability to stabilize the economy and restore basic services. Corruption, lack of transparency, ad-hoc planning, and the general disregard for democratic governance has, and will continue to, exacerbate problems of widespread unemployment and civil discontent in the two countries.
As a crucial element of civil society, the private sector can take advantage of this window of opportunity for political engagement by supporting reform elements within the governments while acting as a catalyst to drive change. These burgeoning concerns can only be addressed once the governments realize the critical need to confront economic reform issues, for instance by the privatization of some state-owned enterprises, opening the market to outside investors, and invigorating the country’s private sector.
It’s still unclear whether Ahmadinejad’s visit was driven by his attempt to garner greater global support for his nuclear program or simply an attempt to get closer to other oil-rich nations outside of the Middle East (he is a staunch supporter of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who was in Iran several years ago for the unveiling of a statue of Simon Bolivar in Tehran, and Ahmadinejad’s next stop is Uganda, where oil was recently discovered).
Henry Kissinger once famously remarked “too bad they both can’t lose” in reference to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. The strengthening of diplomatic ties between Iran and Zimbabwe shows that without an effective civil society, poor governance is infectious. Unless Mugabe and Ahmadinejad make concerted efforts to open their economies and allow democratic institutions to operate freely, Kissinger’s comment will unfortunately remain the universal sentiment.
Published Date: May 03, 2010