"Peace for our time" is a phrase, spoken on 30 September
1938 by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his speech defending the
Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Declaration. The speech has gone down in
the annals of history as a costly act of naivety and folly for in less than a
year the Germany dictator Adolf Hitler invaded Poland and declared war on
France, United Kingdom and many, many other nations beside. “Peace for our
time!” was violently and utterly shattered into a million pieces!
The Second World War was the very antithesis of peace; for the next seven
years the world was to witness what man can do to his fellow man, millions of
human lives were lost and there was wanton destruction of property. It has
taken generations to rebuild the cities and nation who bore the brunt of the
WWII but the scar the war left on humanity will never be forgotten. Never!
Whilst no one blames PM Chamberlain for what Hitler unleashed on us all,
still no student of history worth his salt can deny that by being so naïve and
gullible the British PM did make it easy for Heil Hitler to do as he pleased.
What makes it worse is that PM Chamberlain was warned of the dangers of
appeasing a snake like Hitler and he chose to ignore the warning.
History has the habit of repeating itself or be it at a smaller national
or personal level, but the consequences are just as disastrous for those
involved. In the last 16 years the people
of Zimbabwe has suffered untold human misery and many have lost their lives
because, PM Chamberlain, former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has been
naïve and gullible and would not listen to the warnings of the dangers of
appeasing Mugabe.
“Finally the election took place, Zanu-PF was soundly defeated and then
the process fell apart, SADC leaders failed to follow through and after 9
months of messy political activity, a Government of National Unity (GNU) was
formed and took control of the State in early 2009,” wrote Eddie Cross, senior
and trusted “kitchen cabinet members” of PM Tsvangirai.
Whilst it is true that SADC leaders blundered in proposing the formation
of GNU after the July 2008 presidential run-off marred by violence it is
nonetheless equally true that the MDC could still have stopped Mugabe doing as
he pleased if the party had not been so naïve and stubborn.
When it was clear Zanu PF had lost the March 2008 elections but was
deliberately refusing to announce the result; MDC leaders met Zanu PF’s
Nicholas Goche and offered some Zanu PF members cabinet positions in the new MDC
led government. Of course this was a blatant act of appeasement on MDC’s and
proof the party lacked the confidence to govern alone. Mugabe took full
advantage of this and to “cook” the election results to justify a presidential
run-off and to demand more power in the GNU partnership.
In the GNU Mugabe reduced PM Tsvangirai to nothing more than his Office
boy. Many people advised Tsvangirai not to accept the arrangement notably the USA
Ambassador, James Mcghee, who described it have “more holes than Swiss cheese”.
Tsvangirai et al ignored the advice and went into the GNU.
Still even with all its political limitation there is no doubt that GNU
could have accomplished its principle task of implementing the democratic
reforms to ensure Zimbabwe’s future elections were free, fair and credible. To
fair to SADC leaders, they did their best to remind MDC to implement the reforms.
Sadly, MDC leaders ignored the warning and failed to get even one reform
implemented in five years!
“Then, just as in 2005 when Zanu-PF engineered a two thirds majority in
the House of Assembly, they did it again (in 2013) and MDC was kicked back into
opposition,” wrote MP Eddie Cross, commenting on the rigged 2013 elections.
What MP Cross, former PM Tsvangirai and most of the MDC leaders has
refused to admit and is refusing to do so to this day is that simple fact that
by failing to implement even one reform to appease Mugabe during the GNU they
had per se “engineered” their own defeat. Their continued denial of their
failure since the July 2013 is not doing the nation any favours because it
means nothing is being done to implement the reforms and so Zanu PF will once
again be free to blatantly rig the next elections just as happened in 2013!
Morgan Tsvangirai assured the people of Zimbabwe the 2013 elections would
be “free, fair and credible” just as PM Chamberlain assured the British “Peace
for our time”. When Hitler shatter the Chamberlain’s illusionary peace the
British people ditched the dreamer to fight a bitter war before there was
peace. We are did not have free and fair elections in 2013 and are now paying
dearly for having listened to Tsvangirai. It is sheer folly for this nation to
once again believe MDC leaders’ promise of free and fair elections when we know
they have still not implemented even one democratic reform!
“Unlike 2008, the Zanu-PF Party is completely fractured into at least 4
factions. It cannot be put back together in any sort of semblance of what it
has been and no reconciliation is possible. The opposition is no less fractured
and comprises over 30 Parties. Who is who in the Zoo can only be determined by
an election,” acknowledged MP Cross.
“Major figures in the Parties do not want an election because they well
know that they could not win an election that is run on the basis of the SADC
rules for democratic elections.”
Wrong the 2013 elections were not run on the basis of the SADC rules;
SADC reminded MDC to implement the democratic reforms but you lot would not
listen.
The solution to Zimbabwe’s economic and political paralysis is simple
Zimbabwe; implement all the democratic reforms MDC failed to implement during
the GNU designed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections but most important of all
designed to end the stifling of meaningful debate and democratic competition.
For it is the free debate and democratic competition that will separate the
wheat from the chuff.
We are not interested in sorting out “who is who in Zimbabwe’s political
zoo” but in in getting rid of the tyrants and the thugs and all those who have
made a career of appeasing tyrants that is why we want not just any elections
but specifically free, fair and credible elections.
2 comments:
“The dominating motif of a coalition is normally to achieve a political goal through numerical superiority but it's no walk in the park, it's like walking on egg-shells,” you said.
You are spot on that motive behind forming a coalition can be maximize the chances of a partner winning where standing separately will divide the vote. The facts on the ground in Zimbabwe shows that Zanu PF has won past elections because the party was able to rig the whole election process. There is not one opposition politician out there who will deny that Zanu PF rigs elections.
The solution here is that we should implement the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote; that is obvious. They also know Zanu PF will never win a free and fair election. So why are these opposition politicians wasting time forming coalitions, holding demos, etc.? To understand why you must first understand that these opposition politicians are corrupt, incompetent and very lazy; they know getting the reforms implemented is hard work, especially now after MDC leaders f%&* up big time by failing to get even one reform implemented during the GNU. They are wasting time on the easy stuff like the lazy farmer who plants seed in the sandy but poor soil because the weeding there is easy!
Mugabe is be led by the nose like a bull at the market by his wife; he has no time to reflect on his failures. Grace has lived this Gucci lifestyle for years now and giving it up is simply unthinkable and the reason why she has been fighting like a wild cat to make sure she succeeds her husband as president or failure to do so then he must rule from behind the grave!
Yes the Zimbabwe Mugabe has created is not the free, just and prosperous Zimbabwe we wanted and it is now for the people to reject this alien world of corruption, vote rigging and tyranny Mugabe has been trying to impose on us all.
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