Opinion / Columnist
Is there a vacuum in Zimbabwean politics?
29 Jul 2014 at 13:36hrs | Views
Julius Malema, the former ANC Youth League firebrand President, who now leads the Economic Freedom Fighters political party (EFF) said, during his maiden speech in parliament, that his party was formed because there was a vacuum in the politics of South Africa.
Although I do not think forming a political party should be motivated by the desire to fill a vacuum only as this might result in opportunism, I would want to explore the questions: Is there a vacuum in the political space in Zimbabwe? If indeed there is one, who must fill that vacuum?
Despite the arguable fact that both Zanu-PF and MDC have had no reasonable success stories over the past 2 decades, it appears very likely that the status quo is still going to prevail in the long years ahead. Both parties, who have been the major players, have no clue how to bring change to the lives of the people. One party is in government, they have been winning all elections since 1980, official records show, but has seen massive deceleration in the standards of living as the economy crumbles due to a combination of wrong policies caused by archaic ideologies, corruption, greed and effects of sanctions imposed by the West. Unemployment caused be depleted industrial capacity continues to wreak havoc as the ruling party haplessly watch in an apparent drunken stupor as reality sinks in to the fact that the economy might sink the might revolutionary party. On the other hand, the MDC has promised change but has also watched the years go by and their dream for bettering the lives of Zimbabweans go into smoke each time elections have come leaving Zimbabwe in the ranks of failed states. The MDC has been like a cloud without rain while Zanu-PF, claiming to empower the people have succeeded in disempowering them only.
Other parties have tried to join the political foray without much success over the years, before the advent of the MDC, when they suffered one form of infanticide or another at the hands of Zanu-PF. A few years after the formation of the MDC, attempts to form what was then known as a Third Force or Third Way, which was described as some hybrid of Zanu-PF and MDC, have also been fruitless in the past. The many years that have gone by following the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change, which I believe was formed to fill a vacuum that existed in the politics of the land following the failure of the other political outfits I mentioned above, without wrestling power from the hands of the ruling power have resulted in 2 splits within the party. Firstly, it was the Welshman Ncube led rebellion then more recently the ongoing Tendai Biti led rebellion which has been named the Renewal movement.
Closer examination of the internal uprisings seem to point in one direction; it appears, there is still a vacuum that needs to be filled in our opposition politics. The same can be said about the ruling party, Zanu-PF, although we have not seen real rebellions, except the Simba Makoni failed rebellion. The ruling party has been kept solid by a system of patronage and fear of the unknown. I have described the Zanu-PF system in a separate writing so I will not discuss this here again. It suffices to mention that there exist a vacuum as well in Zanu-PF although no one will be courageous enough to take advantage of it.
Another aspect that needs to be explored is the voter turnout during our elections. Records seemed to show an increasing voter apathy trend as the turnout was decreasing from the 2000 elections before there was a spike in the rate in the disputed 2013 elections. In the 2013 elections only 3.5million voted out of a population of over 13 million voters. Studies have revealed that the younger generation have not been keen in participating in the country's important democratic processes. Although this is a global youth phenomenon, the situation in Zimbabwe is so dire. Could the apparent apathy in the youths be an indication of the existence of a vacuum within our politics? Why do the younger generation choose not to go and vote even though they have borne the brunt of the suffering for a greater part of their lives? It will not be an unreasonable postulate to suggest that their interests have not yet been covered enough to arouse keenness in participation. A vacuum exists.
Recent pronouncements by Zanu-PF on the party draft elections rules for eligibility as candidates in elections on the party ticket raised many eyebrows. How can a party that is accused of having failed to bring positive change to people's lives still be kin to maintain a policy that excludes the younger generation? The rule that one can only be a candidate if they have 15 years continuous membership of the party virtually excludes all genuine youths within the party. Zanu-PF side-lines the younger generation and is ready to use then only during election time where they, because of their joblessness, can easily be bought with a few opaque beer crates.
Should we not be expecting a movement led by younger people that love Zimbabwe and have a fervent desire to see the current reproach rolled away? Should the younger generation be content with eating crumbs falling from old comrades tables instead of stirring up a sweeping peaceful revolution in Zimbabwe politics which have been held captive by the same old and tired hands for over three decades? The younger generation has been far too short-sighted for a long time. Unlike the youths of the 1960s and 1970s who believed that they could involve themselves even though the political terrain was way more dangerous than we have today.
If we agree that there is a vacuum, the next question will then be: Who should occupy that vacuum? This is a pertinent question if the void is not going to be filled by repugnant opportunists who will only delay the emergence of true change. My definition of an opportunist party, in this instance, is one that does not have the passion or the strategy to cause anything to happen with regard to the reason they occupied the political position. That should be avoided at any dear cost; Zimbabwe has suffered enough with opportunism.
My opinion, if the vacuum exists, Zimbabwe must first look back at the cause of our suffering in order for them to sniff out opportunists. A few questions may help: Who in Zimbabwe is best placed to deal with corruption and greed to bring about a turnaround in our economy? Who is qualified in instilling a patriotic and developmental culture to take the country into the future? Who should be trusted with fostering a climate of unity, not vindictiveness, after the fall of the current regime without causing civil wars as we have seen in other countries? A vacuum exists in politics, business, academia and all spheres for the younger generation's inclusion. Time must come when the youth stop campaigning for the older generation as they have done up to now both in Zanu-PF and MDC. Both Tsvangirai and Mugabe must be encouraged to consider retirement, one being 63 years and the other over 90 years. The old must now go so that the new blood that possesses the dexterity to cause meaningful change can be infused into the system so that Zimbabwe can begin strides towards modern civilisation.
What should be supported is a completely home grown peaceful political initiative that is championed by the young who have embraced the values that will be crucial in bringing the change desperately needed. Just like the liberation struggle was championed by the younger generation at that time, so must the peaceful initiatives be led by the younger generation. To me, that is the definition of a bright future. I personally had a lot of excitement about the MDC Renewal as heralding a breath of fresh air in our politics. But, to me, so far they have failed to differentiate themselves from the other MDC in many crucial ways so what befell the original MDC may befall them as well. On the other hand Zanu-PF has clearly demonstrated that they can never change. They have completely shut out the youths who had potential to take the country. The future therefore must be in some other initiative. There seem to be no other initiative that can beat that led by the younger generation who so far have been to a great extent untainted, many of whom are well educated and have been exposed to world class systems in the diaspora and some have embraced the goodness of God which I consider to be a crucial factor when I consider the moral decay that is associated with greed and corruption. If they fail to effect the change within their respective parties it may then be time to join the third force which comprise of youths, or the younger cadres, from both sides of the divide. This could encourage those who had resigned in terms of their participation in the national discourse to awaken from their long deep slumber and join in the new wave.
The younger generation has watched the older generation dribble past must wake up and organise themselves to fill in the vacuum before the geriatrics mortgage our resources and our posterity while we maintain the grandstand mentality because of fear and short-sightedness. It is time to give for the younger generation. They must fuse the ideology in Zanu-PF and that in the MDC to create a wholly home-grown platform for an ideology that believes that it is the younger generation that will take us into the future.
I end with a verse in the bible: I write to you young people because you are strong …… 1 John 2 v 14
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Mbango Sithole is a thought leader currently based in South Africa. Email sithole70@yahoo.com
Although I do not think forming a political party should be motivated by the desire to fill a vacuum only as this might result in opportunism, I would want to explore the questions: Is there a vacuum in the political space in Zimbabwe? If indeed there is one, who must fill that vacuum?
Despite the arguable fact that both Zanu-PF and MDC have had no reasonable success stories over the past 2 decades, it appears very likely that the status quo is still going to prevail in the long years ahead. Both parties, who have been the major players, have no clue how to bring change to the lives of the people. One party is in government, they have been winning all elections since 1980, official records show, but has seen massive deceleration in the standards of living as the economy crumbles due to a combination of wrong policies caused by archaic ideologies, corruption, greed and effects of sanctions imposed by the West. Unemployment caused be depleted industrial capacity continues to wreak havoc as the ruling party haplessly watch in an apparent drunken stupor as reality sinks in to the fact that the economy might sink the might revolutionary party. On the other hand, the MDC has promised change but has also watched the years go by and their dream for bettering the lives of Zimbabweans go into smoke each time elections have come leaving Zimbabwe in the ranks of failed states. The MDC has been like a cloud without rain while Zanu-PF, claiming to empower the people have succeeded in disempowering them only.
Other parties have tried to join the political foray without much success over the years, before the advent of the MDC, when they suffered one form of infanticide or another at the hands of Zanu-PF. A few years after the formation of the MDC, attempts to form what was then known as a Third Force or Third Way, which was described as some hybrid of Zanu-PF and MDC, have also been fruitless in the past. The many years that have gone by following the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change, which I believe was formed to fill a vacuum that existed in the politics of the land following the failure of the other political outfits I mentioned above, without wrestling power from the hands of the ruling power have resulted in 2 splits within the party. Firstly, it was the Welshman Ncube led rebellion then more recently the ongoing Tendai Biti led rebellion which has been named the Renewal movement.
Closer examination of the internal uprisings seem to point in one direction; it appears, there is still a vacuum that needs to be filled in our opposition politics. The same can be said about the ruling party, Zanu-PF, although we have not seen real rebellions, except the Simba Makoni failed rebellion. The ruling party has been kept solid by a system of patronage and fear of the unknown. I have described the Zanu-PF system in a separate writing so I will not discuss this here again. It suffices to mention that there exist a vacuum as well in Zanu-PF although no one will be courageous enough to take advantage of it.
Another aspect that needs to be explored is the voter turnout during our elections. Records seemed to show an increasing voter apathy trend as the turnout was decreasing from the 2000 elections before there was a spike in the rate in the disputed 2013 elections. In the 2013 elections only 3.5million voted out of a population of over 13 million voters. Studies have revealed that the younger generation have not been keen in participating in the country's important democratic processes. Although this is a global youth phenomenon, the situation in Zimbabwe is so dire. Could the apparent apathy in the youths be an indication of the existence of a vacuum within our politics? Why do the younger generation choose not to go and vote even though they have borne the brunt of the suffering for a greater part of their lives? It will not be an unreasonable postulate to suggest that their interests have not yet been covered enough to arouse keenness in participation. A vacuum exists.
Recent pronouncements by Zanu-PF on the party draft elections rules for eligibility as candidates in elections on the party ticket raised many eyebrows. How can a party that is accused of having failed to bring positive change to people's lives still be kin to maintain a policy that excludes the younger generation? The rule that one can only be a candidate if they have 15 years continuous membership of the party virtually excludes all genuine youths within the party. Zanu-PF side-lines the younger generation and is ready to use then only during election time where they, because of their joblessness, can easily be bought with a few opaque beer crates.
If we agree that there is a vacuum, the next question will then be: Who should occupy that vacuum? This is a pertinent question if the void is not going to be filled by repugnant opportunists who will only delay the emergence of true change. My definition of an opportunist party, in this instance, is one that does not have the passion or the strategy to cause anything to happen with regard to the reason they occupied the political position. That should be avoided at any dear cost; Zimbabwe has suffered enough with opportunism.
My opinion, if the vacuum exists, Zimbabwe must first look back at the cause of our suffering in order for them to sniff out opportunists. A few questions may help: Who in Zimbabwe is best placed to deal with corruption and greed to bring about a turnaround in our economy? Who is qualified in instilling a patriotic and developmental culture to take the country into the future? Who should be trusted with fostering a climate of unity, not vindictiveness, after the fall of the current regime without causing civil wars as we have seen in other countries? A vacuum exists in politics, business, academia and all spheres for the younger generation's inclusion. Time must come when the youth stop campaigning for the older generation as they have done up to now both in Zanu-PF and MDC. Both Tsvangirai and Mugabe must be encouraged to consider retirement, one being 63 years and the other over 90 years. The old must now go so that the new blood that possesses the dexterity to cause meaningful change can be infused into the system so that Zimbabwe can begin strides towards modern civilisation.
What should be supported is a completely home grown peaceful political initiative that is championed by the young who have embraced the values that will be crucial in bringing the change desperately needed. Just like the liberation struggle was championed by the younger generation at that time, so must the peaceful initiatives be led by the younger generation. To me, that is the definition of a bright future. I personally had a lot of excitement about the MDC Renewal as heralding a breath of fresh air in our politics. But, to me, so far they have failed to differentiate themselves from the other MDC in many crucial ways so what befell the original MDC may befall them as well. On the other hand Zanu-PF has clearly demonstrated that they can never change. They have completely shut out the youths who had potential to take the country. The future therefore must be in some other initiative. There seem to be no other initiative that can beat that led by the younger generation who so far have been to a great extent untainted, many of whom are well educated and have been exposed to world class systems in the diaspora and some have embraced the goodness of God which I consider to be a crucial factor when I consider the moral decay that is associated with greed and corruption. If they fail to effect the change within their respective parties it may then be time to join the third force which comprise of youths, or the younger cadres, from both sides of the divide. This could encourage those who had resigned in terms of their participation in the national discourse to awaken from their long deep slumber and join in the new wave.
The younger generation has watched the older generation dribble past must wake up and organise themselves to fill in the vacuum before the geriatrics mortgage our resources and our posterity while we maintain the grandstand mentality because of fear and short-sightedness. It is time to give for the younger generation. They must fuse the ideology in Zanu-PF and that in the MDC to create a wholly home-grown platform for an ideology that believes that it is the younger generation that will take us into the future.
I end with a verse in the bible: I write to you young people because you are strong …… 1 John 2 v 14
---------------
Mbango Sithole is a thought leader currently based in South Africa. Email sithole70@yahoo.com
Source - Mbango Sithole
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