Calm reaction proves Mnangagwa is for real

Mere minutes after the explosion was heard at White City Stadium in Bulawayo, leaving over 40 injured and at least one dead, the usual suspects had begun to get to work. All over social media, people were speculating that this would be used by ED and ZANU-PF to arrest opposition figures, clamp down on free speech, inhibit the opposition's campaign and even postpone the elections.
 
This was echoed by many in the private media, and the international media, who were quick to predict a widespread crackdown on the freedoms we have all learned to enjoy these past six months. This view was perhaps most clearly articulated in the British Guardiannewspaper, which in an article entitled 'Zimbabwe opposition fears crackdown after election rally bombing', quoted unnamed opposition 'sources' explaining that, "We're going to have to see who they start picking up in the next few days. Are they going to use this to justify aclampdown on opposition people."
 
Of course, we must all sympathise with the fears of these veteran opposition figures, especially those who have bitter experience of being arrested and victimised by law enforcement agencies in the past. But there was something a little too hasty about their reaction that didn't sit well with me. They were almost willing the government to clamp down on them and their activities. Maybe to give them an excuse if they lose the elections, maybe because it is a tool for them to rally their voters, but either way, their reaction seemed a little too rehearsed.
 
Yet more than 48 hours after the bomb - and seemingly to the opposition's dismay - the government's response has been flawless. With one voice, they have called for peace and unity, and rejected outright any suggestions that the elections - or the free pre-election environment - will be affected.
 
But it this has not just been talk, but action - or rather lack of action. Nobody has been harassed following this assassination attempt, and the very next day the MDC were back on the campaign trail with a series of unhindered rallies. The government has walked the talk.
 
This has been led by President Mnangagwa. In a Facebook post a few hours after the explosion, he wrote that "The campaign so far has been conducted in a free and peaceful environment, and we will not allow this cowardly act to get in our way as we move towards elections… The strongest response to violence is peace. The strongest response to hate is love."
 
This was followed the next day by an address to the nation, in which he sent a clear message to the perpetrators that they will not succeed, as "the forces of progress cannot be stopped", before closing with the line, "We are one people, with one destiny, and one dream. Together, we will prevail."
 
Throughout the past six months, as Mnangagwa has time and again promised free and fair elections, and allowed complete freedom of speech, critics have been urging caution. "It's easy to promise when things are going well," they say. "Let's see what happens when he is under pressure."
 
Well there is not too much more pressure than somebody trying to assassinate you, with a blast just a metre or two from where you are standing! And yet, ED has been as good as his word. To the great disappointment of his critics, the lack of a crackdown following this heinous crime proves that ED is for real.