The GNU was a stop gap measure whose main task was to draft a new constitution and, although it was not stated explicitly, then organise fresh elections. There was an explicit time scale for drafting the new constitution - 18 months starting February 2009. By end of this month the GNU would have had 36 months, twice the time allowed for, and yet have not even produced the first draft. Judging from the undue influence Mugabe and Zanu PF have during the consultations, the proposed constitution would not be worth the paper it is written on.
Those who want elections delayed on the grounds that the country needs a new constitution must shut up because they had had three years already to carry out a task that could have been completed in six months or less. And, which is more, the nation can not wait for something we already know is worthless!
All those familiar with Zimbabwe will have good reasons to want to postpone the elections for fear of political violence. Still one has to ask; why has been done in the last three years to end this national scourge? Mugabe won the “one-horse” race in 2008 after Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the race because of the country wide institutionalised political violence whose sole purpose was to force the electorate to vote for Mugabe. The one thing top on Tsvangirai and MDC’s list, one would think, was to ensure there would never again be political violence in Zimbabwe. Without concrete guarantees of meaningful democratic reforms then there was absolutely no reason why Tsvangirai agreed to be party to this GNU!
Sadly Tsvangirai did not demand concrete guarantees the GNU will deliver on its promise to end political violence because he is a “flawed and indecisive leader”, as USA Ambassador Chris Dell rightly said back in 2001.
Holding regular elections is a key requirement in functional democracy. We should not postpone elections because we fear political violence or those who seek to undermine the democratic process. We should instead seek to end the scourge of political violence and punish those responsible for the lawlessness.
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God promised the children of Israel the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey but they had to earn it. They had to fight for every inch of it. And some people would say, they are fighting for every inch of it today.
God helps those who help themselves. The sad reality is Zimbabweans have for decades done nothing to end their suffering, to end this man-made crisis.
Zimbabweans are dying for an end to the scourge of political violence. MDC have the power and authority to do something about it by virtue of the party having a parliamentary majority. The party, out of political cowardice and for selfish gain, have done nothing. And the Zimbabwe public who sacrificed so much to give MDC the parliamentary majority have themselves never taken the trouble to understand their duty and responsibility as citizens of what needed to be done to create a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe and making sure the leaders stay the course!
So, yes, the suffering will continue; the national tragedy will continue.
But Zimbabweans, true to form, think 2012 is going to be a good year. What they believe is the light at the end of the tunnel is in fact an on-coming high speed train!
President Zuma is set to meet Mugabe and the other GNU leaders to address the outstanding democratic reforms - reportedly the final touches to the road map to resolve Zimbabwe’s political crisis.
One will have to be really naive to think that Mugabe will accept anything that will result in him losing power. He has the final say on all issues including democratic reforms. For the last three years Mugabe has refused to give an inch on these reforms - he is not going to do so now or ever! President Zuma can dream on!
Seating Zanu PF MPs are demanding that they should not have to go through dog-eat-dog party selection process on the shaky grounds that Mugabe did not face an challenge for party president. They know the fight within the party will be rough, very rough; they had good reason to be are scarred.
The fight for power amongst Zanu PF members will be worse than ever. It is to be expected that those already in positions of power would want to hold on to what they have. That is wishful thinking on their part! For every seating MP there are ten or more Zanu PF members desperate and determined to win that seat.
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