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Eddie Cross rubbishes Chamisa's presidential victory claim
08 Sep 2018 at 18:16hrs | Views
Veteran opposition kingpin Eddie Cross has challenged his former party boss Nelson Chamisa to to accept President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the leader of the country.
Writing in his latest instalment of his keenly-followed blog on national politics, Cross said, "Firstly, we have held another election, it was more open, democratic and acceptable than any other election I can recall, and I have been a player in all of them since 1980.
"When you appreciate that the MDC Alliance won only 570 councillor seats out of nearly 2 000 (28,6 percent), you can understand why I think the MDC Alliance claim of a presidential victory with 2,6 million votes is most unlikely and not credible.
"Not one of these council elections have been challenged - and how can they? ... That is why the Constitutional Court unanimously decided that Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as president.
"It must also be understood that he (Mnangagwa) beat Nelson Chamisa by over 300 000 votes - nearly the same majority that Morgan Tsvangirai beat … Mugabe in 2002," Cross wrote.
"Secondly, it is now clear that the international community has accepted the above outcome ... Theresa May's comments in South Africa that Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as president and then the German minister of Development Cooperation announcing that their government was again open for business with Zimbabwe, sealed the issue.
"Thirdly, the new president, for the first time, is asking the whole country for help to secure the future and he has extended the hand of reconciliation to the opposition.
"I am deeply disappointed that the MDC Alliance seems to have turned its back on these initiatives and instead have continued to make the assertion that this was a ‘stolen' election and that Chamisa is the legitimate president.
"Not only is this futile, but it also threatens further violence and instability when what we really need is national unity and an agreement to put our differences aside in a concerted effort to deal with the tough issues that confront us in the next five years," Cross added.
Writing in his latest instalment of his keenly-followed blog on national politics, Cross said, "Firstly, we have held another election, it was more open, democratic and acceptable than any other election I can recall, and I have been a player in all of them since 1980.
"When you appreciate that the MDC Alliance won only 570 councillor seats out of nearly 2 000 (28,6 percent), you can understand why I think the MDC Alliance claim of a presidential victory with 2,6 million votes is most unlikely and not credible.
"Not one of these council elections have been challenged - and how can they? ... That is why the Constitutional Court unanimously decided that Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as president.
"It must also be understood that he (Mnangagwa) beat Nelson Chamisa by over 300 000 votes - nearly the same majority that Morgan Tsvangirai beat … Mugabe in 2002," Cross wrote.
"Secondly, it is now clear that the international community has accepted the above outcome ... Theresa May's comments in South Africa that Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as president and then the German minister of Development Cooperation announcing that their government was again open for business with Zimbabwe, sealed the issue.
"Thirdly, the new president, for the first time, is asking the whole country for help to secure the future and he has extended the hand of reconciliation to the opposition.
"I am deeply disappointed that the MDC Alliance seems to have turned its back on these initiatives and instead have continued to make the assertion that this was a ‘stolen' election and that Chamisa is the legitimate president.
"Not only is this futile, but it also threatens further violence and instability when what we really need is national unity and an agreement to put our differences aside in a concerted effort to deal with the tough issues that confront us in the next five years," Cross added.
Source - dailynews
