Economic meltdown force Zanu PF to "fast-track reform bill" - gimmick, party must step down P Guramatunhu

Zanu PF rigged last year's elections confident the party will "rig" economic recovery; that has proved a bridge too far. There is no doubt that the regime is now feeling the political pressure brought on by the soaring inflation, collapse of basic services like health and supply of clean water, fuel and food shortages, etc. 

Instead of Zanu PF finally admitting that the party cannot rig economic recovery and do the only honourable things left and step down; the party is once again off at a tangent. The regime is wasting time and resources in pursuit of gimmick solutions designed to create the illusion the country is finally dealing with the thorny problem of bad governance when, in reality, it is whitewashing the problem, at best. 

"Another source in the MDC said in an effort to lure the (MDC) opposition, (Speaker of Parliament, Jacob) Mudenda is pushing to ensure Parliament fast-tracks critical electoral reforms and has engaged the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (Zesn) to help craft a comprehensive draft Bill which captures recommendations made in the observer mission reports on the 2018 general elections," reported NewsDay.

"At the core of the dispute is how elections have been run in this country, the laws, how the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has failed and all these things are captured in a compendium of recommendations by election observer missions, which were compiled by Zesn," the source said.

"The same organisation has also petitioned Parliament on these reforms and the Speaker's people assured the MDC that he will be pushing for these reforms."

Speaker Mudenda is also pulling all the stops to get Chamisa and Mnangagwa to meet. MDC is demanding the formation of power sharing National Transition Authority (NTA) as the way forward.  

Zanu PF has no problem making promise. When Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe in 2017, he promised a “new dispensation”, “zero tolerance on corruption”, that “Zimbabwe was open for business!” and, most important of all, “to hold free, fair and credible elections”. He failed to honour any of these promises and blatantly rigged last year’s elections.

The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is the criminal waste of the nation’s resources through mismanagement and corruption and, to add insult to injury, Zanu PF government have nothing but contempt for the law and rule of law. The national economy is in a comatose state after four decades of being sucked dry of all the blood and vitality. 

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging murderous thugs. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, there will be no meaningful economic recovery. 

By blatantly rigging last year’s elections and presenting itself as the fait accompli legitimate government, Mnangagwa could not done more to proclaim Zimbabwe as a pariah state per excellence. Nothing! 

All the frantic effort to form the NTA and to implement the reforms will come to naught because none of these efforts solve the pariah state problem. The NTA will to add MDC leaders to the present illegitimate Zanu PF cabinet. No one, especially the savvy international community, will not be fooled by this window dressing; the regime will still be illegitimate and the country will remain a pariah state.

Even if parliament was to implement all the democratic reforms demanded, this will not change the historic fact that Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections. Making sure that stable door is secure for the future is all very well but we must also address the immediate problem of the escaped horse! Allowing Zanu PF to remain in office till 2023 does not solve the immediate problem of an illegitimate government and the country remaining a pariah state.

Besides, if Zanu PF is still in office come 2023, we can be certain that the party will rig that year's elections. This is a regime renowned for disregarding the law and even using wanton violence to retain its strangle hold on power. 

The core thrust of the above solutions is to keep Zanu PF in office for no other reason than to appease Mnangagwa and his cronies. After four decades of appeasing the regime with the tragic political and economic consequences we can see for ourselves; it is insane to still pursue this failed policy. 

Zimbabwe has blundered from pillar to post and has been dragged deeper and deeper into this hell-on-earth, the country is desperate to get out. Well here is the nation's get-out of jail card: implement the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections. Zanu PF has been the stumbling block stopping the nation implementing the reforms.

Zanu PF blatantly rig last year's elections, the party has no mandate to govern, it is illegitimate and it must step down. Period!