Electorate has lost interest in Tsvangirai, Mugabe

I never said Tsvangirai should never contest 2018 elections but I simply said they must go to the election with this in knowledge. It is very important to take a post-mortem and really know what is exactly on the ground.

Opposition rush to label analysts and other experts, Zanu PF agents, but if you want to win an election you have to gather information seriously.

If you look at the way people are registering their names for 2018 elections you can easily tell that people are no longer interested in voting.

Voting pattern since 2008 has declined mainly because the two main contenders, Mugabe and Tsvangirai are still active in politics.

The question will then remain, are these two gentlemen the only two people in this country who can save this country from total collapse? The answer is very clear, NO.

In fact there is likely to be voter apathy in 2018 due to these careless decisions.

I've great respect for Tsvangirai, for what he did to bring a new democratic dispensation but my biggest fear is he may easily distort his legacy by remaining at the helm of his movement.

It will appear as if he is entitled to the ownership to the party.

Tsvangirai should easily open up the succession question so that people will regard him as a true democrat.

Since 2000, Mugabe and Tsvangirai's names were always on the ballot and nothing changed, and what makes you think in 2018 something will change? The Zanu PF structure remains the same, similarly to the MDC T, which happens to be the main opposition party which poses a serious threat to the ruling party, still remains the same.

My question will then be what will change in 2018? I've conducted a very serious research and more than 87% of both rural and urban constituencies remain very skeptical about the names on the ballot.

People have a feeling that these are two ailing leaders who should have retired on medical grounds to pave way for new successors to carry on the struggle and build the once ailing economy.

Honestly let's have an introspective on these matters, MDC T is going into an election without reforms, nothing has changed on the ground, the composition of ZEC   has not changed yet, it is still militarized, and what makes you think Zanu PF will lose election? This must be a joke, this will never happen, this is an obvious case, Mugabe will make sure his party will carry the day.

There is one thing you have to understand in politics, you can have big crowds but what counts in politics is how many people have voted for you? Secondly how many people registered so that they can vote for you? From my own understanding the process for registration is closing in January 2018 and we are two months away from the closing date and still only 950 000 people have registered and what makes you think 6 million will register in the remaining two months? This is working to the advantage of Zanu PF because once people are not registered Zanu will always maneuver the way during the last days for the process to register their people or mainly from rural set up, or its either way they are conducting a parallel process using ZEC figures, so something is cooking somewhere.

Back to my analysis, I know many people will label me as a Zanu PF stalwart or agent fine but honestly I don't see any meaningful change unless the candidates change on the political map.

Morgan is not well and he served well as the Prime Minister of the country and everyone appreciate this but it is high time he should save his legacy by paving way for a young vibrant politician from his party.

Names have been thrown in, the likes of Nelson Chamisa, Morgan Komichi, Komichi is a very neutral guy who is level headed and he is also an academic, people like Mudzuri though he is a bit arrogant but he looks better.

The moment MDC T changes the candidate I tell you there will be terror in this country, and Zanu PF will re-oil its machinery for terror campaigns.

The reason why Zanu PF is very reluctant to do that they all know that this time it is a walk over and they have no meaningful completion from their opponents.

For Zanu it will work to their advantage because they will simply return the numbers but for the opposition there is likely to be apathy.

Remember the issues of Tsvangirai's healthy people are not taking this lightly, it is a serious concern.

What is very important is to know that Tsvangirai is suffering from a terminal illness which needs rest.

I would suggest that he should re-consider this and allow a energetic leader to lead the formidable alliance.

People are continuing with their business of the day, and MDC T because of limited resources they are struggling to push their people for voting.

Remember this is a crucial exercise which will determine who will garner 50+1 vote in 2018.

Bulawayo has the lowest figure of voter registration, mainly because of Khupe-Tsvangirai episode, and this can also be a contributing factor, because the two were washing their dirty linen in the public.

Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the Head of Southern Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (SIPAR), which is responsible for Policy Analysis and Research. He is also an academic and Researcher. He can be contacted at southernisntitutepar@gmail.com