Opinion / Columnist
Biti's transitional government wishful
20 Apr 2016 at 11:06hrs | Views
People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Tendai Biti, is hooked to the concept transitional governments so much that whenever he addresses the media, he forgets to expound on his party policies but dwells more on how the country urgently requires an intermediary government.
Like a drug, the transitional government thought has irreversibly addicted Biti so much that he cannot see the country moving forward without the guidance of the patchwork authority.
At a time when the vibrancy of Government is not in question and when it is also dutifully guiding the nation through a rough economic patch, it is wrong for people like Biti to suggest disruptive interventions to the country.
Rudimentary legal knowledge tells us that a transitional government could be established when a country faces a constitutional crisis or when it is saddled by leadership deficiencies of which Zimbabwe is currently free of.
It is therefore bewildering that a supposedly seasoned lawyer such as Biti is calling for a transitional authority at a time there is no constitutional or leadership crisis in the country.
Biti's call for the transitional authority can only therefore be buoyed by other factors other than the legal and constitutional considerations.
As a politician and former member of a transitional body called the Inclusive Government, Biti could be driven by the nostalgia of his hey days in that inter-party arrangement.
Biti was the Finance Minister during the days of the Inclusive Government and he held the strings to the national purse, a powerful position indeed, whose residual force could be influencing his unbroken record of lobbying for another transitional government.
The PDP leader still has an untreated hangover from his previous Government escapades compounded by the realization that power is not easily attainable through the electoral route since his party is hugely unpopular.
It is also clear that Biti has no confidence that his party can get into power on its own because he is always harping about coalitions or transitional arrangements.
When the Zimbabwe People First (Zim First) came into the political picture, even before Joice Mujuru had thrown her thrown her hat into the ring, Biti and his crew were quick to embrace them and proposed a coalition with Mujuru.
He also is always talking about the so-called grand coalition and seems ready to hide behind the shadow of a merger of opposition political parties.
Even when the so-called National Convergence Platform was topical in opposition circles, his party was at the forefront of fidgeting and pushing for the concept.
With 2018 around the corner, it is clear that the PDP is not ready to stand on its own but is seeking to go into bed with other equally struggling opposition colleagues to form a coalition against ZANU PF.
Maybe, we would take this opportunity to remind Biti and his ilk that power in Zimbabwe is only transferrable through constitutional avenues.
No one can just wake up and call for the formation of a transitional government or the removal of Government through mass misdemeanors.
As mentioned above, the country is a constitutional democracy that allows its people to choose their leaders through regular and credible elections.
The last elections were held in 2013, where the people overwhelmingly chose ZANU PF to govern the country up to 2018.
ZANU PF's mandate has not yet expired and cannot therefore be challenged.
As such, all talk about transitional governments or regime change is ill-advised and apparently undermining the constitutional mandate of ZANU PF to rule till 2018 without any unsolicited political meddling.
Biti is advised to immediately drop his back-door approach to politics and embrace the electoral route availed by the Constitution in electing governments.
His party should not waste time thinking about the formation of a transitional government, for that will remain a mirage to be deflated by the holding of the 2018 harmonised elections.
Like a drug, the transitional government thought has irreversibly addicted Biti so much that he cannot see the country moving forward without the guidance of the patchwork authority.
At a time when the vibrancy of Government is not in question and when it is also dutifully guiding the nation through a rough economic patch, it is wrong for people like Biti to suggest disruptive interventions to the country.
Rudimentary legal knowledge tells us that a transitional government could be established when a country faces a constitutional crisis or when it is saddled by leadership deficiencies of which Zimbabwe is currently free of.
It is therefore bewildering that a supposedly seasoned lawyer such as Biti is calling for a transitional authority at a time there is no constitutional or leadership crisis in the country.
Biti's call for the transitional authority can only therefore be buoyed by other factors other than the legal and constitutional considerations.
As a politician and former member of a transitional body called the Inclusive Government, Biti could be driven by the nostalgia of his hey days in that inter-party arrangement.
Biti was the Finance Minister during the days of the Inclusive Government and he held the strings to the national purse, a powerful position indeed, whose residual force could be influencing his unbroken record of lobbying for another transitional government.
The PDP leader still has an untreated hangover from his previous Government escapades compounded by the realization that power is not easily attainable through the electoral route since his party is hugely unpopular.
It is also clear that Biti has no confidence that his party can get into power on its own because he is always harping about coalitions or transitional arrangements.
When the Zimbabwe People First (Zim First) came into the political picture, even before Joice Mujuru had thrown her thrown her hat into the ring, Biti and his crew were quick to embrace them and proposed a coalition with Mujuru.
He also is always talking about the so-called grand coalition and seems ready to hide behind the shadow of a merger of opposition political parties.
Even when the so-called National Convergence Platform was topical in opposition circles, his party was at the forefront of fidgeting and pushing for the concept.
With 2018 around the corner, it is clear that the PDP is not ready to stand on its own but is seeking to go into bed with other equally struggling opposition colleagues to form a coalition against ZANU PF.
Maybe, we would take this opportunity to remind Biti and his ilk that power in Zimbabwe is only transferrable through constitutional avenues.
No one can just wake up and call for the formation of a transitional government or the removal of Government through mass misdemeanors.
As mentioned above, the country is a constitutional democracy that allows its people to choose their leaders through regular and credible elections.
The last elections were held in 2013, where the people overwhelmingly chose ZANU PF to govern the country up to 2018.
ZANU PF's mandate has not yet expired and cannot therefore be challenged.
As such, all talk about transitional governments or regime change is ill-advised and apparently undermining the constitutional mandate of ZANU PF to rule till 2018 without any unsolicited political meddling.
Biti is advised to immediately drop his back-door approach to politics and embrace the electoral route availed by the Constitution in electing governments.
His party should not waste time thinking about the formation of a transitional government, for that will remain a mirage to be deflated by the holding of the 2018 harmonised elections.
Source - Tendai Moyo
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