By Catherine Sasman
WINDHOEK
After serving an eight-year term as Britain’s premier, Tony Blair left a tainted legacy because of his allegiance to USA’s George W. Bush in the invasion of and the protracted war in Iraq, according to Namibian opinion makers.
“Blair’s echo should not be bloated in southern Africa,” was a terse comment from opposition CoD President, Ben Ulenga.
Asked what Blair’s administration has meant for the continent, Ulenga commented, “The grand plans devised by the G8 countries and other forums have come to nothing. One thing that stands out when I think of Blair is the heartless and inhumane mess that is left in Iraq.”
Blair, continued Ulenga, “is a product of centuries of imperialism, while the Labour Party in the UK struggles with a deep-rooted culture of looking down on other nations”.
“The Labour Party is not at fault, but one thing that any British government cannot change is the age-old world exploitative relationship that that country and nation has built. Blair has not behaved any differently.”
But, commented Daniel Motinga, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Blair was instrumental in putting Africa back on the “development map” of the G8 countries.
Blair was a strong supporter of the 2005 G8 Gleneagles Summit in Scotland to increase overseas development aid (ODA) by N$50 billion by 2010.
Motinga, however, agreed that the lofty commitments made by the developed countries have not materialized.
“But through Blair’s efforts Africa has made the headlines for the right reasons for a change,” added Motinga.
“It was the first Labour Party government since Namibia’s independence and this has been beneficial for our bi-lateral relations with the UK. The social democratic agenda was again put on the map.”
Graham Hopwood, Manager of the NID Public Dialogue Centre, praised Blair for having instituted a number of positive reforms in the UK.
He further described Blair as “fairly pro-African”, saying that he had a genuine interest in having debt reduced for developing nations.
“But these are seen as mere footnotes to the assessment of Blair,” said Hopwood.
“His domestic and other good records will be viewed against his decision to support Bush’s invasion in Iraq.”
He was also of the opinion that Blair’s future role as Middle East special envoy will be limited as a result of his role in the Iraqi and Israeli crises.
“Blair overall was responsible for very slick politicking that has taken Labour politics to a more centrist, if not rightist at times, making it virtually indistinguishable from other parties,” commented senior researcher with LaRRi, Herbert Jauch.
“In no way did Blair propose pro-work politics.”
Internationally, said Jauch, Blair’s “complete alignment and subordination to the USA and imperial interests” positioned Blair as a proponent of “extremely conservative politics in Europe”.
“Besides the rhetoric of commitment to Africa, he has very little to show for it,” went on Jauch, describing Blair’s stance on the continent as “paternalistic” and “humanitarian”.
“He embraced a reformist policy and failed to redress the power imbalances. On trade negotiations, his administration chose to advance its own interests above those of Africa at the G8 summits; he did not break rank.”