The people of Zimbabwe risked life and limb to elect Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Nelson Chamisa, David Coltart and the other MDC A leaders into power on the promise the party will deliver the democratic changes the nation was dying for. After 19 years on the political stage, five of which MDC had both the majority in parliament and cabinet, the party has failed to implement even one democratic reform. Not one.
Worse still, it is clear the party is not going to implement any meaningful democratic reforms in the near future.
Anyone who is anyone including the EU and Americans has said Mnangagwa and Zanu PF rigged last year's elections making the Zanu PF regime illegitimate. The whole election process was pregnant with flaws and illegalities. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll, for Pete's sake.
Instead of dismissing all the election results as null and void and all those who declared the winners as illegitimate ; Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A friends have accepted the process and results of the parliamentary race as clean and legitimate. Nelson Chamisa rejected ZEC's result declaring Mnangagwa the winner of the presidential race. He has tried and failed to get the Constitutional Court to set aside the ZEC result and declare him the winner instead.
His next move was to pressure Mnangagwa into a political dialogue leading to the formation of a Transition Authority (TA) in which he, Chamisa, and a few MDC A leaders will hold cabinet positions.
”It was indeed a sad sending off for Vimbayi and we are indebted to the thousands who paid their respects,” twittered Tendai Biti.
“The church service at the City Sports displayed the huge scars of a tortured society. The country needs dialogue and healing. As MDC we will give dialogue a chance.”
The most important question ordinary Zimbabweans would want answered is: will the TA implement the democratic reforms leading finally to the holding of free, fair and credible elections?
The honest answer to that has to be a NO!
It should be remember that any meaningful democratic reforms have to be endorsed by parliament and the senate. Zanu PF will never implement any meaningful democratic reforms because the party knows it will not win free, fair and credible elections. The party has 2/3 majority in both Houses!
Beside, why should Zanu PF implement the reforms and risk losing the elections when the party knows that even if it does not implement even one reform, fail to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll, etc.; Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A friends will still participate in the next elections regardless! Mnangagwa knows MDC A will participate for the same reason they participated in last year's and all the other past elections - greed.
Robert Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF leaders set out to liberate the nation from white colonial exploitation and oppression. When they got into power they could not resist the temptation to secure absolute power and all the wealth and influence it brought for themselves. And so they denied the people their freedoms and basic human rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life. It took most people nearly 20 years to finally acknowledge that Mugabe et al were corrupt, incompetent and murderous tyrants.
The people of Zimbabwe risked life and limb to elect Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and the other MDC leaders into power on the understanding they would implement the needed democratic reforms to restore the individual freedoms and rights and thus end the curse of pariah state and rigged elections. Tsvangirai and company, just like Mugabe and company before them, have too sold-out. They too have proven to be corrupt and incompetent and failed to implement even one reform after 19 years in politics, 5 of which MDC had the majority in the GNU parliament and cabinet.
The economic situation is Zimbabwe is dire; unemployment has soared to 90%, basic services such as health care have all but collapsed, etc. Zimbabwe needs to implement the democratic reforms thus finally end the curse of rigged elections; the pre-requisite for economic recovery. The only sure way to ensure the reforms are implemented is for Zanu PF to step down. The TA that MDC A is proposing will NOT guarantee the implementation of all the reforms, if any at all.
"The country needs dialogue and healing." Yes Zimbabwe needs healing but it is important to realise that neither MDC nor Zanu PF have will provide the cure; they have proven beyond all reasonable doubt that they are corrupt, incompetent and, especially with the later, murderous tyrants. They are the disease and hence the reason Zanu PF must step down and must not be allowed to remain in power till 2023.
If Zanu PF is still in office by 2023, the party will rig that year's elections. This is one mistake we must not make .
4 comments:
If anyone still doubted that MDC leaders like the late Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Nelson Chamisa, David Coltart and the rest were/are breathtakingly corrupt, incompetent and worst of all they sold-out on the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reform then they must read the following reports:
1) “Hot Seat: Mugabe thwarts “coup attempt” says political scientist Ibbo Mandaza”. In the interview Dr Mandaza in April 2017 (just 7 months before the November coup that ousted Mugabe) explain SADC leaders last minute attempt to stop the 2013 Zimbabwe elections going ahead until meaningful reforms are implemented. They told the MDC leaders the elections would be rigged and still the later would not listen. Dr Mandaza also quoted Zanu PF Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo boasted that Zanu PF “would not reform itself out of office!” See violetgonda.com for the full article.
2) “There was no time to wait for Parly: Chinamasa.“ Partick Chinamasa explained to the press and members of the diplomatic corps, including SADC diplomats why Zanu PF was going ahead with the elections with no reforms in place – MDC never tabled any reforms. See herald.co.zw for the full report.
3) “’MDCs Could not do the obvious – withdraw from elections’ admits Senator Coltart”. Coltart admitted in his book that MDC participated in the 2013 (and then 2018) elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging the elections and, worse still, that by participating they were giving the process the modicum of credibility. He admits, they did this out of greed, pure and simple. The article is available on zsdemocrats.blogspot.com.
Anyone who still believes that MDC will ever implement the democratic reforms required for free, fair and credible elections have their heads buried in the sand, a luxury the nation can ill afford. There is no chance in hell of the dialogue MDC A are calling for ever resulting in Zanu PF ever implementing meaningful democratic reforms. None! Zero!
We all know what you, Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and a few other MDC A leaders would want to see happen in a "genuine dialogue" - a Transition Authority is which you lot have a cabinet positions complete with the gravy train salary and perks. You keep talking about implementing the democratic reforms, the same reforms you failed to implement during the last GNU and the same you have ignored since.
You talk of "genuine dialogue" and yet have flatly refused to have one such dialogue with the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. People have asked you repeatedly in the past and are doing so now: if the reforms are important then why has MDC failed to implement even one reform in 5 years of the GNU?
Why should we believe you are serious about wanting the reforms implemented and the nation having free, fair and credible elections?
If Zanu PF refuse to implement the reforms, deny those in the diaspora the vote, fails to even produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll, etc., etc.; will MDC A not participate in the elections again as happened in the past?
What reforms are you going to implement to stop yourselves participating in flawed and illegal elections? What reforms are you going to implement to govern your own greed, never mind that of Zanu PF and others?
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections; whay did MDC A only choose to reject the presidential result and accept the parliamentary result?
The most sure way to get the reforms implemented was for MDC to have implemented the reforms during the GNU. You chose not to implement even one reform. The sure way to get the reforms implemented now is demanding that Zanu PF must step down, after all the regime rigged the elections and is ipso facto illegitimate. Why are you determined to grant the regime legitimacy in return for a few gravy train seats?
You are selling-out now just as you sold out during the GNU. You got away with it last time, you will NOT do so this time round: mark my words! "Genuine dialogue, my foot!
"We do not want dialogue, we want fresh elections!"
Well that makes a lot sense.
The institutions of government, i.e. the executive and the legislature are the one empowered to formulate and implement policies designed to solve the nation's economic, social and political problems. The very fact that the economic meltdown has go worse and worse over the last 39 years is proof our political system, the de facto one party dictatorship, has not worked. Last year's elections failed to produce a competent executive and legislature and hence the reason the country's economic meltdown has continued.
For the last 39 years Zimbabwe's political system has failed to produce a competent government and hence the reason the country has experience economic decline year after year for 39 years. Zanu PF rigged last year's election and thus perpetuating the failed the system of one corrupt and incompetent government after another. Instead of demanding that the illegitimate Zanu PF regime step down those calling for dialogue are hoping the transition authority (TA) will take over as the government and get the nation out of the mess.
The proposed TA have no legal powers and yet will be expected to tell the Zanu PF executive and legislature what to do. To expect the Zanu PF executive and legislature to agree to reform themselves to allow free, fair and credible elections, they are certain to lose is to expect too much. Both Zanu PF and MDC know that no meaningful reforms will ever be implemented hence the reason Zimbabwean must reject the dialogue and demand that Zanu PF steps down.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A friends know that the Transition Authority (TA) they have been calling for will be a watered down version of the 2008 to 2013 GNU in which they will have no real power to implement any reforms. Chamisa and two or three other MDC A leaders may be given cabinet positions with the rest being Zanu PF, in a 30 or so cabinet. Mnangagwa will remain as president and Zanu PF will have its 2/3 majority in parliament and senate.
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the regime is illegitimate and the nation should have just focused all its time and energy on getting the regime to step down. By participating in the flawed elections, a half-hearted rejection of the result and now this TA business MDC A has given Zanu PF the modicum of legitimacy and is giving it the opportunity to remain in office till 2023 while stringing out this TA.
Zimbabwe had a real chance to force Zanu PF to step down so the nation can finally implement the democratic reform but the golden opportunity is once again being wasted on the alter of selfish greed!
"MDC A is willing to give dialogue a chance!" This is no different from Zanu PF claiming it has rigged elections all these last 39 years to give peace, freedom and economic prosperity a chance! The reality on the ground tells us all what is going on!
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