Opinion / Columnist
Why Chamisa must accept his inevitable defeat
26 Jul 2018 at 08:56hrs | Views
Facts don't lie. Numbers can be a stubborn thing. This is why we must all look at the polls and research which has been conducted by respected international organisations with a clear and non-biased view. Every poll and every political scientist, every research house and every university, has predicted that ED will not only win, but he will win big.
To suggest anything different is to mislead what the numbers are showing. It is to distort facts. To outright predict the opposite is even worst, it is to create a counter-universe in which violence is unfortunately rendered inevitable.
Nelson Chamisa said once again at his recent press conference that if the MDC does not win, he will not accept the results. This is dangerous and damages the brittle framework of our new delicate democracy. First of all, all candidates in a democratic process must accept the results of an election. It's the ABC of democracy. ED, riding on a wave of positive polls, even told South African TV that of course he would accept the results and over power to NC should he lose. That after all is how democracy works, he told the interviewer.
The problem we have is that Nelson Chamisa has simply not done this. He is using a playbook from an immature and fiery school of thought. To declare that you will only accept one outcome borderlines on fascism. But when you have an army of devout followers (the Vanguard), with a history of violence, these statements are not combustible matches; they constitute gallons of fuel being poured on an already kindling fire.
So when the results come in next week, I urge calmness and cool headedness. I urge us to accept the results whichever way they go. We have hundreds of foreign observers and monitors here – let them call the shots on whether it is fair or not. In any case, NC has already told us he is going to ignore the results unless he wins!
This is not a way to partake in a democratic process. There is a phrase about having your cake and eating it. Nelson Chamisa wants the democratic process, but only if he wins! He talks the language of democracy to foreigners, while he speaks "Mugabish" as he incites his base to violence and rejectionism at home.
Zimbabwe, our blessed country, after almost forty years of independence, is now at a turning point. We are overlooking the promised land of real democracy. We can almost touch it. Now is not the time to sin, to strike the rock and be left like Moses, in the wilderness. Now is the time to pray together, act together, work together and build together.
This is our Moses moment. Unless Nelson Chamisa accepts defeat, unless he accepts democracy and its processes, we'll all be left overlooking the promised land of democracy.
To suggest anything different is to mislead what the numbers are showing. It is to distort facts. To outright predict the opposite is even worst, it is to create a counter-universe in which violence is unfortunately rendered inevitable.
Nelson Chamisa said once again at his recent press conference that if the MDC does not win, he will not accept the results. This is dangerous and damages the brittle framework of our new delicate democracy. First of all, all candidates in a democratic process must accept the results of an election. It's the ABC of democracy. ED, riding on a wave of positive polls, even told South African TV that of course he would accept the results and over power to NC should he lose. That after all is how democracy works, he told the interviewer.
The problem we have is that Nelson Chamisa has simply not done this. He is using a playbook from an immature and fiery school of thought. To declare that you will only accept one outcome borderlines on fascism. But when you have an army of devout followers (the Vanguard), with a history of violence, these statements are not combustible matches; they constitute gallons of fuel being poured on an already kindling fire.
So when the results come in next week, I urge calmness and cool headedness. I urge us to accept the results whichever way they go. We have hundreds of foreign observers and monitors here – let them call the shots on whether it is fair or not. In any case, NC has already told us he is going to ignore the results unless he wins!
This is not a way to partake in a democratic process. There is a phrase about having your cake and eating it. Nelson Chamisa wants the democratic process, but only if he wins! He talks the language of democracy to foreigners, while he speaks "Mugabish" as he incites his base to violence and rejectionism at home.
Zimbabwe, our blessed country, after almost forty years of independence, is now at a turning point. We are overlooking the promised land of real democracy. We can almost touch it. Now is not the time to sin, to strike the rock and be left like Moses, in the wilderness. Now is the time to pray together, act together, work together and build together.
This is our Moses moment. Unless Nelson Chamisa accepts defeat, unless he accepts democracy and its processes, we'll all be left overlooking the promised land of democracy.
Source - Innocent Dube
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