Opinion / Columnist
'MDC A will give dialogue a chance' - to what end if chance of free 2023 elections is zero
16 Jun 2019 at 19:11hrs | Views
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.
The cure of Zimbabwe's political and economics ills comes from Zanu-PF stepping down to allow the country to finally implement the democratic reforms leading to the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
If Zanu-PF is still in office by 2023, the party will rig that year's elections; guaranteed.
"MDC A will give dialogue a chance!" Yeah but to what end and purpose when the chance of the said dialogue delivering free, fair and credible 2023 elections is zero!
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.
The cure of Zimbabwe's political and economics ills comes from Zanu-PF stepping down to allow the country to finally implement the democratic reforms leading to the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
If Zanu-PF is still in office by 2023, the party will rig that year's elections; guaranteed.
"MDC A will give dialogue a chance!" Yeah but to what end and purpose when the chance of the said dialogue delivering free, fair and credible 2023 elections is zero!
Source - zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
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