Mnangagwa and Chamisa is secret talks to form 7 year GNU without even the token rigged election vote for povo! N Garikai

 Nelson Chamisa and Emmerson Mnangagwa are holding secretive negotiation to postpone the 2023 harmonised elections and form a seven-year Government of National Unity (GNU). The 2008 to 2013 GNU was imposed by SADC after the regional body had refused to recognise Zanu PF as the legitimate government given the blatant cheating and wanton violence that had marred these elections.

It is no secret that Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies did not want the 2008 GNU. Indeed, the party had sworn in Robert Mugabe as president and head of a new Zanu PF government and was only forced to accept the GNU because SADC and the AU, for once, refused to accept the 2008 election process as democratic and legitimate.

One more thing, SADC spearheaded the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) spelling out the need to implement a raft of democratic reforms to ensure the blatant cheating and wanton violence that had marred the 2008 elections will never be repeated ever again. Zanu PF and the two MDC factions, the three parties in the GNU, were tasked to implement the democratic reforms. SADC was the guarantor of the GPA.

So, the 2008 to 2013 GNU was established by SADC because the 2008 elections had failed to produce a legitimate government. Two, the GNU was an interim government whose primary purpose was to fix, by implementing the raft of democratic reforms, the country’s failed political system so that future elections are free, fair and credible and more significant produce legitimate and competent government.

The 2008 to 2013 GNU failed to implement even one meaningful democratic reform and Zanu PF emerged with its carte blanche dictatorial powers untouched and hence the reason the 2013 elections and subsequent elections have been a repeat of the 2008. Zimbabwe is still aa pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent thugs who rig elections to perpetuate their rule.

The notable difference between the Zimbabwe government before the 2008 GNU was that it was a de facto one-party, Zanu PF dictatorship and after the GNU, Zanu PF has accepted MDC/CCC as a junior partner. Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had stoically refused to implement any meaningful reforms during the GNU, even in the face of constant nagging by SADC, and Zanu PF rewarded them with a few gravy train seats. A small price to pay given Zanu PF gets legitimacy from MDC’s participation in these flawed elections.

The new GNU is being proposed by Zanu PF and their junior political partner CCC, the rebranded MDC for the two’s selfish political gains.

“According to the sources, both Mnangagwa and Chamisa are keen to avoid next year's general elections, albeit for different reasons,” reported New Zimbabwe.

“Mnangagwa, whose presidency has suffered a serious legitimacy crisis from the time he took over after the November 2017 military coup and the highly contentious 2018 elections which saw his presidency being decided by a court order, wants to use the GNU to help to prevent similar circumstances.

“Further to that, situation reports from the intelligence services do not give him a good chance of winning the elections, especially with the economy in bad shape.

“On the other hand, sources in the CCC said, Chamisa has virtually conceded that while he may be popular enough to win the 2023 presidential election, his chances of taking over power are very slim given how the security system is deeply entrenched in the Zanu-PF scheme of things.”

Yes, Mnangagwa’s political legitimacy is dodgy given the party blatantly rigged the 2018 elections and is doing the same now with the 2023 elections. Still the regime was managed to claim some modicum of legitimacy from MDC’s participation in the flawed process.

The two, Mnangagwa and Chamisa, can connive to drag the nation through yet another meaningless election process in which the people are once again denied their right to free and fair elections and the two share the spoils of power as they see fit. The participation of the opposition will give the flawed elections some modicum of legitimacy.

What Mnangagwa and Chamisa cannot do is short circuit the elections process and go straight into forming a new GNU. The GNU will not even have one iota of legitimacy. None!

No doubt, Mnangagwa and Chamisa will promise to use the new GNU to implement economic and political reforms to benefit the whole country. This is nonsense since both parties were in the 2008 to 2013 GNU that failed to implement even one meaningful democratic reform hence the reason the country is still a pariah state.

Zanu PF and MDC/CCC failed to implement even one reform during the last GNU regardless of constant nagging from SADC. What hope is there they will implement the reforms now with no one looking over their shoulders!

Chamisa claims to be a democrat and is leading a Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) political party. He sold out during his MDC days by failing to implement even one reform during the party’s 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU, and has been giving Zanu PF legitimacy by participating in flawed elections. Now he is negotiating to deny the citizens even the token vote in rigged elections!  

Mnangagwa and Chamisa are connivance to cancel 2023 elections and form a new GNU without even the token rigged elections. This will set a new and very dangerous precedence in which the incumbent future regimes will willy-nilly cancel elections to extend their stay in power.

Government has a constitutional duty to hold regular, free, fair and credible elections and failure to do so is crossing the double redline and no one should ever be allowed to get away with it. No one!