The blatant cheating and wanton
violence of 2008 elections have proven one thing beyond all doubt – that Zimbabwe
cannot hold free, fair and credible elections without first doing something to
take away Zanu PF’s carte blanche powers to rig the elections. The primary task
of the GNU, formed after those election, was to implement a raft of democratic
reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and take away the
dictatorial powers.
Sadly not even one reform was
implemented during the GNU and none since the rigged July 2013 elections. For
the last five years the country’s main opposition party has stoutly maintained that
they will force Zanu PF to implement the democratic reforms to make sure the
2018 elections are free, fair and credible. “MDC has stringent measures to stop
Zanu PF rigging the elections!” Nelson Chamisa has often said.
You can cheat everyone else but
cannot cheat time! For the last four and half years MDC leaders have been content
giving Zanu PF ultimatums and deadline by which the regime must implement its
democratic reform demands. Zanu PF has responded by simply ignoring MDC and
even dismissing them as barking dog! As each ultimatum and deadline approached
MDC have moved the date into the future; kicking the can down the road. When
President Mnangagwa announce the date of this year’s elections; MDC’s world was
turned upside down, they were kicking the can down a cul-de-sac!
With just months and then weeks
to do to voting day and still not even one token reform in place; Chamisa and
company were now staring the reality of yet another rigged elections! With no
reforms in place, there was no way these elections would be free, fair and
credible. A panicking Nelson Chamisa gave a press interview on Tuesday 17 July
2018 giving ZEC a new deadline, 20 July (just three days, time is now of the essence)
to meet his revised demands. He has also dispatched envoys to SADC leaders,
calling for help.
“MDC-Alliance is now in a
quandary on how to proceed with its so-called electoral reform demands after
its push for a SADC Extra Ordinary Summit over the electoral situation in
Zimbabwe failed to get takers in the region,” reported The Herald.
“This comes at a time when the alliance is divided on whether to boycott the elections or not and in a show of confusion in its ranks, two days ago, its leader Mr Nelson Chamisa said he had whittled down his list of demands from 11 to just two.
“With regards to the alliance's regional diplomatic offensive, their petition found clear passage into the dustbin in some countries that viewed it as mere political grandstanding by a party afraid of elections.”
MDC is in a quandary indeed but
one of its own making. MDC were warned not to go into these elections without
first implementing the democratic reforms they refused to listen.
Yes, MDC have been demanding
the implementation of the reforms but to what end and purpose is the MDC
leaders themselves readily admitted they will not boycott the elections even if
none of the reforms ever saw the light of day! Zanu PF did not need to call MDC’s
bluff; MDC assured them they were bluffing.
By implementing even one reform
Zanu PF knew it will be weakening its own grip on power. “You can’t expect us
(Zanu PF) to reform ourselves out of power,” Professor Jonathan Moyo once
blurted out. Of course, he was stating the obvious. What self-respecting
tyrannical regime would ever commit hara-kiri especially when they are under to
pressure to reform.
When ZEC failed to produce a
clean and verified voters’ roll by nomination day; a legal requirement because
it really is inconceivable to see how there could be free, fair and credible
elections without such a key requirement; this was Rubicon river, no opposition
politician dared to cross.
"Watch this space, we are
not repeating the mistakes of 2013," Nelson Chamisa said again and again
during his press interview on Tuesday. MDC went into the 2013 elections with no
verified voters roll and the party was doing the same again! His posturing is
no more than a madman shouting “I am not mad!” in the hope of hearing a
reassuring “You are not mad!” echo.
No one should be surprised that
SADC leaders have rebuffed MDC Alliance’s request for regional summit. There is
nothing the regional body can do to salvage these elections, SADC cannot
produce a clean and verified voters’ roll in these remaining two weeks to
voting day, for example.
Yes, the SADC meeting can ask
the elections to be postponed but to what end and purpose? Given all that has happened
to get us this far in the election cycle and it is now only two weeks to the
voting day; it makes sense to let the process go ahead.
SADC has team of election observers,
and so does many other nations and organisation, we should let the observers
produced their report. If there are such blatant irregularities as the failure
to produce a clean and verified voters’ roll, the report will say so. After
reading the report, the SADC leaders will decide whether to judge these
elections as having been free, fair and credible or condemn them and declare
the process null and void.
It is a matter of public record
that SADC leaders wanted Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections to be postponed until the
democratic reforms agreed at the onset of the 2008 GNU were implemented. They
literally begged MDC leaders not to participate. “If you go into the elections
next month, you will lose; the elections are done!” they told Morgan Tsvangirai
and his fellow MDC leaders.
As we know, MDC leaders did not
listen back in 2013 and would not listen this year even with the benefit of
hindsight of the rigged July 2013 elections.
Chamisa and his MDC friends are
breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent; they have blundered from pillar to
post. By going into this year’s elections even when ZEC had failed to produce a
clean and verified voters’ roll MDC leaders once again proved they are beyond
the pale. It is impossible to implement an reforms nor to stop Zanu PF rigging
these elections. What Chamisa is asking SADC leaders to do is help him close
the stable door when the horse has already bolted, just to indulge his
deflating bloated ego. They are right to let the hot air balloon deflate!
3 comments:
@ Pafunge Mbirimi
"The SADC countries especially South Africa are the ones who benefit most for maintaining Zanu PF dictatorship in Zimbabwe," you said.
"We waste a lot of money to educate Engineers, Teachers, Doctors and Nurses who later on go and work in neighbouring countries.
"That is why Mbeki and Zuma protected the murderous regime of Mugabe for so long. No educated person will like to work under a corrupt military government and that is why Zimbabweans will continue to leave our country resulting in poor hospitals and low quality education system."
There is some truth in what you are saying however it does not change the reality on the ground that a politically unstable Zimbabwe whose economic is in total meltdown has not been good for Zimbabwe and the region as a whole. SADC would be economically more prosperous if Zimbabwe was prosperous and, the reverse is equally true, an impoverished Zimbabwe is making the whole region that much poorer!
As regards these elections, one hopes that the regional body will have the vision to see that Zimbabwe is stuck and the courage to act. All we need is for SADC to declare these elections null and void so we can implement the democratic reforms and reset our failed political system.
After meeting Anna, Chamisa said they raised issues to do with:
- stalemate on the ballot paper (its design, printing, etc.)
- postal voting and need to have it invalidated
- objections against ZEC's proposed change of polling booth design
- vote buying using food
Chamisa and his MDC friends were warned that with no reforms in place Zanu PF will rig the elections and they refused to listen. "MDC had stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections," Chamisa said. Now with just weeks before elections the MDC is complaining that Zanu PF is rigging the elections!
SADC and the international community must ignore these MDC village idiots, they are always fishing for attention. The most important thing here is come up with detailed reports proving these elections were not free and fair and to declared the process null and void. Zimbabwe needs to go back to implementing the raft of reforms agreed at the onset of the GNU.
After the blatant cheat and wanton violence in the 2008 elections SADC managed to force Zanu PF to agree to the implementation of the raft of democratic reforms designed to end the party's ubiquitous corrupting influence in ZEC and all the other state institutions. Mnangagwa knows that not even one of these reforms were implemented during the GNU because MDC leaders sold-out.
This Zanu PF buffoon should not talk to us about ZEC doing everything according to the law as if therein lies our guarantee ZEC will deliver free, fair and credible elections. We know that without first implementing the reforms there is no hope of Zimbabwe holding free and fair elections. None!
Indeed, even with the existing compromised system ZEC is still failing to up hold the laws. The law is very clear that the verified voters' roll must be produced a month before nomination date. ZEC has failed to do so! This is a very serious matter because it is impossible to see how we can have credible elections with no credible, clean and verified voters' roll.
"Justice Chigumba will not resign!" says the Zanu PF buffoon.
No one with half a brain would even bother to ask her to resign because that will change nothing. What we need is to implement the raft of democratic reforms designed to severe all the strings Zanu PF use to controls and influences ZEC, Police, Public Media, Judiciary, etc. Only when this is done can we appoint clean professionals we know will fulfil their mandate without fear or favour for the good of all and not a corrupt few!
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